Heart's a Mess
by easilyobsessedctc
Summary: ch. 8; After apologizing and some dimpled charm over the webcam, he never received a letter without her signature kiss on the bottom corner.- Compilation of one-shots revolving around Klaus/Caroline. Ratings will vary.
1. heart's a mess

**A/N:** Hello there, wonderful readers! I have fallen in love with the couple of Klaroline. Yes, Klaus and Caroline. They just have such chemistry on screen and I LOOOVE me some Joseph Morgan. And I also just love Caroline with almost any characters, but Klaus is the best.

This will (hopefully) be a place of my random thoughts about the couple which I then transformed into a little story. Most will be one-shots, but like the one below, some will consists of parts. This one was meant to be a one shot, but it was pretty lengthy (about 16 pages!) and I didn't want to start this off with one suuuuper long story. **I have already finished the second part and if I receive enough reviews, then I just might upload it sooner. So in that case:**

Review, _review,_ **review**!

p.s. I listened to the song, _Hearts a Mess_ by Gotye on constant repeat while writing this. He's wonderful.

Happy readings, and _enjoy_!

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><p><em>Your heart's a mess<em>

_You won't admit to it_

_It makes no sense_

_But I'm desperate to connect_

_And you, you can't live like this_

**_Hearts a Mess_- Gotye**

Caroline blinked to the sound of her phone playing some catchy pop-song.

7:45 AM

The numbers glared back at her wide eyes. There was no need for the alarm. For the past few weeks she hadn't been able to catch a wink for more than four hours. The longest she had gone without sleep was a little more then seventy-two hours. And she was dead tired- pun intended.

She pushed herself out of bed as she raked her chipped bubble-gum pink polished nails through her blonde threads. There was a nest of tangles sitting on the crown of her head, but she didn't care.

She didn't care for much nowadays.

Ever since _their_ furious spat, of course including the exchanging of insults, shoving, screaming, and heartstring-pulling words, her days have past in a blur. She couldn't remember what she had for dinner last night, or if she even had dinner. Her mom has obviously been fussing over her weird, isolated attitude and tried to take her out on her day off as sheriff. They had gone to the Grill, with Matt as their waiter, and her mother bought her one of everything on the dessert menu.

And boy did Caroline love desserts.

Or.. Well, she _did_.

The young Forbes didn't love much since-

_Shut up!_

Okay. So yeah, her mother took her out for dessert and all she could muster was a small smile and an awkward hug as a token of appreciation. The worst part? She only had a fraction of a bite of each delectable dish. Her old spunky self would have been very, very disappointed in her. Caroline loved her mother of course, dearly so. The older Forbes woman is honestly the most important person in her life.

That is until _he_ became her entire world.

-Alright. It's time for that much needed run now. Caroline blinked away her thoughts as she mutely began to pull active clothing articles from her closet: Sports bra, jacket (there was no need for a shirt if she was just going to zip up her jacket half way. Call her a whore, she didn't give a flying duck's ass.), black booty-shorts, pink socks, and her running sneakers. Caroline was putting her hair into a ponytail when she heard her mother close and lock the front door as she left for work, protecting the people of Mystic Falls.

Pfft, yeah the city filled with vampires, werewolves, witches, and hybrids. Well the last one was a new addition all thanks to that asshole-

_And_ she was heading down the stairs now. There was no way in hell she was going to let her mind wander off towards that topic again. Especially not this early in the morning. All that mind wandering and heart hurting could wait till it was dead in the night. No pun intended.

Caroline eyed the fridge and toaster as she made her way towards the front door. Was she going to make herself a nutritious breakfast of eggs and strawberry jam toast?

Nope.

Why ruin her recent breakfast ditching streak? There was no need for the extra boost of energy if she was just going to lie around her house for the rest of the day. Like every other day. If someone wanted to see her, they would have to make the effort to come to her house. Just like Bonnie had, and Elena, Matt, Damon, and even Stefan. Though he was still acting like a dick even after he was given back his humanity, he was still at one point her best friend and her his. It made her heart warm a little at the thought that he still held onto a string of their friendship. It made her feel significant. And she hadn't felt that way in a while.

Tyler visited her once.

Just once.

He came to check on her because he heard that she was acting 'freaky weird' lately (the words of Matt Donovan). They exchanged greetings before making small talk and a quick recap of what they've been up to lately. She of course left out some details that she was sure he didn't want to know. Tyler made it clear months ago that he didn't want to know the ins and outs of _their_ relationship. Not hers and Tyler.

Her former relationship...

Why wasn't she on that jog yet?

Caroline locked the door before she strapped her Ipod onto her upper arm with that Ipod-holding-armstrap-thingie that her mother bought her off of the internet when she noticed her daughter had taken a liking to jogging in the wee hours of the morning. The blonde let out a heavy sigh as she placed her earbuds in to drown out the world.

Not like she needed it though. It _was_ only like eight in the morning.

As she ran past houses and into the streets of the town she waved at the already woken towns folk. When she first began her jogs they all gave her weird looks. Looks that said, 'why was this blonde chick prancing around town half-naked when it's like forty degrees outside and the sun is barely up?' But now they were accustomed to seeing her everyday as they prepared their stores for its daily work. They waved and smiled. She nodded and waved.

Never smiled.

Sometimes she thought to herself about the exact reason as to why she always went running. Yeah, she liked being fit, but that wasn't the real reason. She thought she knew the answer, but she didn't want to think about the thought of her knowing the real reason why she went running.

_It's all just a facade. Running is just to display to everyone that I'm apparently fine when in reality I'm being torn to pieces from the inside out, beginning with my heart..._

Caroline yanked out her earbuds as she came to a halt in front of a pharmacy and watched as a few cars zoomed by on the nearly empty streets. She was busy glaring at the air when a rustle of feathers broke her out of her stupor. She turned towards the street and noticed that there was a pigeon standing in the middle of the road. It was innocently staring back at her with its beady eyes. It made a move to try to walk off the pavement and towards safety when she noticed it didn't move an inch other than from its flailing wings. Caroline looked closer to see that one of its pink feet was most likely ran over by a car and was smashed to the street.

Pretty gross.

But she had witnessed many far more worse cases.

A consequence of being a vampire.

She turned off her music as she made her way towards the bird. The careless girl didn't even look both ways before entering the street. It was too early anyway so she didn't have to worry about speeding cars. Plus, she was a vampire. Caroline crouched down to get a closer look at the bird and was about to reach for it when her hand paused. She suddenly felt cautious about touching the animal because she was always told that pigeons were dirty birds that carried diseases and were more like flying rodents.

Well, to hell with whoever told her that.

Okay. Not really. She loved her mother too much to be sentencing her to the underworld.

But she didn't like the idea of judging something without witnessing it herself first hand. Not all pigeons could be carrying diseases. And a pigeon was still a bird. Yeah, there were a lot more of them and they weren't really all that special or pretty to look at, but still. It was still a bird no matter what. Plus, she couldn't be one to judge. She did drink blood, after all. She survived off of it. Craved it.

Anyways, back to the poor bird stuck to the street.

The young Forbes placed both of her hands under the bird's belly as she gently lifted it off the road and began to walk it over to the side of the street. She placed it on the grass under a tree and then considered what to do next. She could consider calling the animal hospital, but would they really care about some pigeon? Caroline smiled softly at the creature while she continued to contemplate what to do. Placing her weight on one foot and crossing her arms, she racked through her brain for ideas when she noticed that her earbuds were no longer attached to her Ipod. She turned left and right looking for it when she saw that it was lying on the sidewalk in front of the pharmacy.

Letting her arms fall to her side with a sigh, she began her trek to the other side of the street.

She didn't look both ways.

Again.

Bad move, Caroline.

She was in the middle of the road when a loud horn blared in her ears. Out of the corner of her eye the female saw a massive blur coming her way in the resemblance of a truck, not quite a semi-truck, but it was still massive nonetheless.

Time seemed to slow.

Which was something she didn't really appreciate since she was a vampire now and had all the time in the world. She stared at the driver's face with a passive look of her own. His displayed utter fear and shock with his mouth open shouting something incoherent and eyes so wide and whatnot. Many said, or at least in the movies they did, that a person's life flashed before their eyes before they died.

But she saw no slideshow of her life.

There was only one thought replaying in her mind in that very second.

Could she die from this?

If the truck hit her head on- like it could right about now- and rammed her over, layers of skin scraping off against the pavement, hair and limbs getting tangled in the tires, clothes torn to shreds.

Could she die?

She thought she might.

If the hit was powerful enough, she just might.

And in that very moment, Caroline Forbes wanted to test that hypothesis out.

.

.

.

Is she suicidal?

.

.

.

That question was never answered because when she forced her body to relax instead of brace itself for the violent impact there was a rush of air, which she assumed was caused by the truck's speed, that surrounded her and whipped her hair. She felt something very strong wrap around her.

Death's grip?

There was no pain.

Why was there no pain? Maybe the force of the impact was so strong that it knocked her out, completely withdrawing any pain caused. Yes, that must be it. However, she sort of wanted the pain. A piece of her welcomed it...

Enough. Caroline Forbes was not some freaky masochist.

Caroline was in an abyss of complete darkness and silence. She smiled softly at it. Finally, peace. No more crazy world with its crazy people. No more worries, stress, and fights. No more hurting. But then that also meant no more seeing the people she loved. No more memories. No more laughter, or smiles, or her mother. Elena. Bonnie. Stefan. _Him._

There was no more him in this world.

Because like herself, he was given the privilege to escape that fate and live for hundreds upon thousands of years.

Caroline became sad.

Maybe she made a mistake.

_No._ No. This world held no more hurt.

But still...

"_Caroline."_

Oh no. No, no, nonono, _no!_ He was not supposed to be here. Not him. Not here. This was supposed to be the one place she could escape him. Escape him and the hurt he could so easily inflict upon her with just a few words. Just a look could shatter her heart to pieces.

He could not be here.

"Caroline, love. Open your eyes, _please, _open your eyes... Damnit Caroline, open your eyes! _Look at me!_ ...I need you to look at me." The last sentence came out in a broken whisper. A whisper from that beautiful mouth with his beautiful lips and his beautiful accent.

But he wasn't allowed to be here.

Unless.

Her fears were confirmed when she felt a rough, yet gentle hand caress her cheek and she felt no stinging pain from where her skin should have been ripped away. Her eyes snapped open and her sight was filled with blue, _so _very blue. They were shiny, almost like glass, as they seemed to have stared into her very soul.

They were familiar. She knew those eyes. She had stared into them countless times while they made pure love, and those same eyes had watched when she would unravel in a raw moan and an arch of her bare back.

Always clinging to one another.

"Love."

Her face was fanned by the breath of relief he released. He blinked causing the glassy tears to trail down his cheeks, past his quivering smile, and threatened to drip off his chin. Her fingers twitched as instinct to want to brush those tears away. His mouth opened to say something once more when the sudden slam of a car door broke their gaze. Both watched as the driver of the truck stumbled to make his way towards them with the fearful look of shock still plastered on his face. If it was even possible, the man's eyes widened even more and he stopped in his tracks at the same moment Klaus felt a movement of air brush his face. He looked down to see that the female was gone.

Caroline was gone.

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><p><strong>AN: **dun, dun, duuuunn. Alrighty, lovelies! Please leave reviews because we all know that they are what authors thrive on. It's very true. So, any thoughts are welcomed! _Thank you_ for spending the time to read.


	2. heart's a mess II

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Vampire Diaries in any way.

**A/N:** I forgot to put the disclaimer in the last chapter- whoops! I really do love this couple. My heart yearns to see more and more scenes from them! Give us more scenes!

For you lovely readers to help get you through this VD hiatus and for your Klaroline cravings.

Please excuse all mistakes. I do not have any sort of beta or editor and I tend to always miss my errors _after_ I publish it.

Part II of Hearts a Mess, _Enjoy!_

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><p><em>Love ain't safe<em>

_You won't get hurt if you stay chaste_

_So you can wait_

_But I don't wanna waste my love_

**_Heart's a Mess- _Gotye_  
><em>**

The blonde quickly locked her front door and barely made it two feet before there was a stern knock. He didn't have to knock more than once because he knew that she was right by the door (with the help that her door consisted of a large window, so he could basically see her standing there frozen).

What should she do?

"Open the door, Caroline."

She hated how he could always seem to read her mind. After repeating to herself that she wasn't going to break and let him in, Caroline crossed her arms and turned, "And why should I d-?" Her thought was cut when she noticed the man on the other side of the door holding up what seemed to be her dropped earbuds.

Well, damn.

She loved those ones, too.

The female felt his burning gaze and made the mistake to meet his stare. He was giving her a smile that displayed comfort while his eyes blazed with concern, fear, and hurt. Even his aura was tense with restrained anger.

Klaus was a man of many words and emotions. Okay, sort of. He did tend to lack humanity at times.

"_Please?_"

Caroline's eyebrows shot up as she gave him a look as if he grew three heads. This man rarely begged, and when he did it meant that he meant business. Something was clearly bothering him. It probably had to do with all the emotions he was conveying, but that wasn't fair. He wasn't allowed to be the one hurt and angry. She had the right to feel that way, but not him. She wasn't the one who left. She wasn't the one who ended things.

Alright, so they never really officially ended things.

But it was basically implied by the way he just left.

"You're testing my patience. If you don't open this door then you will leave me with the only option of breaking it down. Surely, it wouldn't be a very hard task."

"You wouldn't dare," Caroline hissed. She would feel horrible if her mother would have to pay for the damages, but then again he was the type of gentleman to never let a woman pay. He would probably just break it down and then give her mom a thousand dollars and more just to repair it.

"Then open it."

"I don't want to."

"It wasn't a request."

"You can't just come here and demand things from me."

"Caroline."

"..." The said woman told herself that she would not say his name if it wasn't necessary. Saying it would only tear the shreds of her remaining heart to micro pieces. He gave her a odd look from her sudden silence and was about to place a hand on the doorknob before she sped over to open it.

"I wasn't really going to break it," he admitted in response to her heated glare.

"Unlike you, I don't have freaky mind-reading abilities. I never know what you're thinking anymore."

Klaus's eyes narrowed as he leaned against the door frame and the atmosphere turned tense once more. "What are you implying? How is that my fault?"

"Well it's not mine."

"Yes, that's right. Nothing is ever your fault because you are the good, innocent girl and I'm the big bad wolf, isn't that right?" He spoke with sarcasm dripping from every word. "Life isn't always just rainbows and sunshine, darling. Not everything can always go your way."

It felt like something inside of Caroline broke at his words- if there was anything left inside of her that wasn't already broken. _He _knew.

Out of everyone in her life, _he _had to understand what she had gone through in the past months. Then again he was the cause of some of her saddest moments. He broke up her relationship with her first love. Yes, Tyler was her first love and she was once so happy with him. That is until _his _arrogant ass came around and killed Tyler before changing him to a hybrid. He knew how much pain she had endured while living in this crazy town.

Her dad dying.

Being tortured by said dad.

Once having her mother be repulsed by her.

Watching her former boyfriend whither in pain while she couldn't do anything.

Being tortured (_again)_ by stupid wolf people.

Getting into a car accident and surviving, but then killed by Katherine. Turning into a vampire. Killing an innocent man. Being used as a pawn for vampire killing affairs. Having her mind messed with and body fed on by Damon. Falling for boys that never reciprocated the feelings. Always, always coming second.

Yet, through all that she still managed to be her bubbly self. It hurt, really hurt. Yet she continued on with a bright smile. She thought that deserved at least a pat on the back. Even though he wasn't there with her to witness all of that, he still knew. Caroline had told him. He did ask to know everything about her.

Klaus could never understand the type of pain she's gone through, though she did know he had his own demons and hurt, but she _knew _not to throw it back in his face.

It felt like every nerve and vein coursing through her was burning with adrenaline and fire. That _bastard_ had absolutely no right to be accusing her of thinking that the world was always filled with candy, happiness, and unicorns.

He had crossed the line.

Caroline threw him the dirtiest look she could muster, choosing to do that instead of crushing his spine to ashes which she _really _wanted to do. "Fuck you," she spat with shiny eyes. She grabbed the door to slam it shut, but a quick foot jammed its way before it could close.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Breathe.

Caroline avoided eye contact as she spoke in a dangerously low voice, "Get off my porch. Get as far away as possible from my house. Get your face eaten off by piranhas in some muddy river, and get lost. You seem to be really good at running away anyways."

She heard him growl beneath his breath, "That was below the belt, Caroline."

"Stop saying my name like you're scolding me! I'm not some child."

"You sure can act like one."

"At least I don't act like some arrogant bastard," she rebuked. The blonde spun on her heels and stomped down the hall towards the living room. She gave up trying to kick him out. When Klaus wanted something, he was going to get that something. She used to admire him for his consistent ambition, now she just thought that everything he did was plain stupid. He was stupid.

Ugh, she just strongly disliked the man.

She heard the door lock before she felt the presence of his intimidating body closely following behind. The female left the man to go into the kitchen to retrieve a bottle of vodka that her mother stashed away in a cabinet. Using her nails to peel away the seal then easily twisting it open, Caroline took a very large swig. Enjoying the warm tingle from the liquid she made her way back into the living room to find Klaus lounging on her couch.

"I think you've been here long enough. You know where to find the door."

"Want me to leave so you can drink away your emotions?"

"That's none of your business."

"_You_ are my business."

"I never asked to be," Caroline admitted in a soft voice. She felt her walls crumbling down as the man in front of her continued to speak. Every word he spoke was like a wooden stake stabbing at her heart over and over. She bit her tongue as she tried to keep the tears at bay.

Another large swig.

The bottle was held in the air with her pink lips surrounding the opening. She watched the alcohol flow towards her and into her mouth gulp after gulp. The hot skin of her fingers felt nice against the cool glass of the bottle before it was suddenly ripped from her grasp causing her to spill vodka all over her chin and floor.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at the thief, "You asshole."

"Call me whatever you like, love. It does not phase me."

"Sure it doesn't," she replied with sarcasm as she glared at the puddle of alcohol on her wooden floor. The blonde opened her mouth to say something once more, but the sudden appearance of a washcloth breaking into her vision shut her mouth.

"I'm not cleaning that up because it was your fault."

"Child," he reprimanded.

"Asshole," Caroline rebuked while she watched him place the rag over the puddle and just left it there. "Seriously? That's not how you clean something.. And you call me the child?" She bent over to grab the rag and tried to soak up as much alcohol spilled as possible. The smell of the vodka burned her nostrils. It literally smelled like straight nail-polish remover. Why did she drink this stuff again? Oh, right. It helped her forget.

She threw the washcloth into the sink when she heard his smooth voice. "You should have just cleaned it when I handed you the cloth." Caroline let out a breath of disbelief. Was this jerk serious right now? "It was your fault for spilling it!"

"You shouldn't have been drinking so early in the day, so I believe it's entirely your fault."

"I wouldn't have to be drinking if you didn't come prancing around bothering me. I just wanted to be left alone."

"If I didn't come _prancing_ around then you would have been hit by that truck, and from the speed that it was driving I'm quite sure that your vampire abilities would not have helped you survive that impact."

_What if I didn't want to survive?_ Caroline distinguished the thought just as quickly as it appeared.

"I don't need your help."

"Yes you do."

The young vampire tangled her hands into her blonde locks, yanking in frustration. "No, no I don't! Stop trying to make me feel like I owe you for your protection. I don't need anything from you because in the end you'll just leave. You'll leave and I'll be stuck here trying to hold myself together. I don't need that feeling, and I most certainly don't need you."

There was a tense moment of silence before his accent spoke. "Is that really how you feel?"

"Yes," she replied with a stern voice.

He gave a slight nod, then a small smirk appeared on his handsome face. "Look at us," he said. "We're always fighting now, even over the smallest of details." The girl decided it was best to remain silent and watched with cautious (and sad) eyes. If Klaus suddenly laughed or smiled during a serious situation it meant that he snapped, and some crazy shit was about to go down. She braced herself for anything when his eyes suddenly shot up to glare at her tense form.

The man never broke eye contact as he spoke in a low voice, "I hate how you make me feel."

"And I assume you're going to try and say that's my fault again? Newsflash, I'm not the one with the tendency to mess with people's minds and emotions-"

"_Quiet,_" Klaus snarled. "Just listen and be _quiet._"

The girl had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from lashing out on him. Instead she settled for crossing her arms over her chest. She watched with a heated glare as he stood in front of the couch and took a step towards her before speaking. "You used to be so full of light, so strong. Where did that beautiful woman go?"

The younger vampire's eyes narrowed even more, "Am I supposed to answer that stupid question?"

Instead of replying in some sarcastic way, which the female expected, the man chose to remain silent as he made his way closer. He was less than five feet away when he halted in his steps. Caroline felt her skin burning from his unwavering stare. It was like all of his energy and power was flowing into that stare that could burn holes into her soul. She was frozen in her spot as she listened to his smooth accent.

"Genuine beauty. That's what I told you in the very beginning. I've lived a very long time, sweetheart, and I've seen no other beauty as captivating as when I look at you. Your strength, kindness, and light just takes my breath away... But what happened? I look at you now and I can't seem to see that same woman. I know she's still there somewhere, but it seems like she's hidden beneath all this rubble." Klaus took this moment to close the distance and stood merely inches away from Caroline. Toe to toe. He slowly, almost cautiously, brought his hand to rest on one of her pink cheeks. She was the only thing on the planet that he approached cautiously because he knew that one wrong move could result with her leaving him completely. He had forgotten just how soft her skin was. "The shine in your eyes is so dim now," he whispered as his eyes tried to search hers.

Her lips trembled as she spoke in a quite broken voice, "You can't do this. Please leave."

"No."

His refusal hit a nerve in Caroline that ignited her irritation to a whole new level. Who did this guy think he was? Yeah, he's some Original vampire that could kill her with a twitch of his pinky, but still.

"I want you to leave. It shouldn't be that hard for you since you've done it once before, or have you forgotten?" She smirked at his silence. "Well, let me help you refresh your memory with a quick recap, yes?" she sneered.

"Caroline," Klaus spoke in a warning tone as he took a step back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Once upon a time there was a young vampire woman enjoying life when all of a sudden a big, evil, ugly, grandpa vampire came into town and twisted her whole life around. At one point the girl fell for the nasty, ancient vampire after his persistent ways as a stalker." Caroline heard a masculine snort at the word 'stalker'. "For months they were together. They were even _happy_. What the female even saw in the guy is still a huge mystery. This all came crumbling down when one day the couple got into a huge fight because the stupid guy vampire said some really stupid crap. And how did it end? The coward of a vampire just up and left the girl. He just left. It was so easy for him to just leave and didn't care that he left the girl-..."

Caroline thought it was best not to finish that sentence.

"'He left the girl...' what? Finish your thought."

A million thoughts crossed her mind. She wanted to tell him- no, _yell_ at him about how she felt. But she was also scared. Caroline Forbes did not show weakness, and by telling Klaus that him leaving caused a gaping hole to form in her chest was a major sign of weakness. She realized that she couldn't function without him.

...

Oh, to the hell with it.

"He left the girl broken to mend to her shattered heart alone."

The followed silence was so heavy that it began to suffocate her. That is, if she still needed to breathe.

"Tragic that the story didn't end very happily."

His accent always seemed to melt her insides. The blonde gave a small nod, almost as in understanding, then concluded, "Not everything has a happy ending."

"That's a pretty gloom statement."

"Yes, well, you did say that I lost my 'light'."

"No. _No._ Your light is still there. I can see it in your eyes, sweetheart. It's just blanketed by something. Tell me what's wrong."

She was quick to reply, "Nothing is wrong."

"That's bullshit."

"Why do you care all of a sudden? Where were you the past few weeks? Did you not care then? Was I not important then, but I suddenly am now? … How _dare _you? You can't just show up out of nowhere and expect everything to just be dandy again," Caroline hissed.

"I'm getting tired of you stating what I can and cannot do, Caroline. Watch how you speak to me."

"_Shut up!" _She screeched. "Stop talking to me like a child! I don't give a rat's ass if you're an Original and can kill me." The female stomped towards the man and stood on her toes as she leaned her face into his personal space, trying to seem threatening as she glared. "If you were going to kill me you would have done it already. So, stop trying to act all big and tough."

Klaus was obviously taller by a few inches and as he spoke in a low tone, he towered over her small form with his tall, lean one- not backing down. "Why are you acting this way?" Though the older vampire came off as mean and threatening, Caroline could see the concern that swam in his blue eyes. They seemed to be pleading to her. "What happened that causes you so much pain now, and don't try to deny it. I can see it. Everyone can see it. What's happened that you've become suicidal?"

Well, she was in way too deep. Might as well tell the entire truth now.

Klaus watched with observant eyes. He saw the way her shoulders slumped, her bottom lip tremble, her left index finger twitch. He heard her fight to swallow the lump in her throat.

"I'm not suicidal."

He internally cringed at the sound of her very broken, very hopeless voice.

"Love."

"I'm not."

"I saw you stand there. You're a vampire and could have easily avoided that truck, but you just _stood_ there. As if you were accepting that it was going to hit you. As if you _wanted_ it to," Klaus spat the words as it left a bad taste in his mouth. The thought of his beautiful blonde giving up and accepting to get rammed over by a vehicle, it mind-boggled him. "The moment I noticed you relax yourself in front of the truck, I knew something was completely wrong. Tell me what's going on. _Talk to me._"

"I've wanted to talk to you! For the past weeks all I wanted to do was talk to you, but I _couldn't_. You wanna know why? Because you weren't _here_ for me to talk to! You became a coward and decided that running away was the best option."

"And it was!"

This shut Caroline's opened mouth. For a moment, her lower jaw moved up and down, causing her mouth to close and open like a fish. She decided to just close her mouth and settled for biting her inner cheeks.

Klaus sighed loudly as he ran a frustrated hand through his short hair. "I didn't mean that in a hurtful way."

"Too late, asshole."

"I'm trying to explain why I left. Will you let me explain myself?"

Caroline let out a huff before tapping her foot impatiently and placing her hands on her small waist. "Go ahead. Let me hear it.. Asshole." She just couldn't resist adding in that last insult. She was just so irritated. He mentally smirked at her stance. She looked like an angry mother waiting to scold her child.

"Well?" she impatiently huffed.

The Original cleared his throat before continuing. This was either make it or break it. He had to carefully choose his words so she wouldn't storm off, but he intended to fully let her know the reasons behind his actions.

"I hate the way you make me feel. It's the one thing that I cannot handle, and I despise when I am not in control of something. _You_ make me feel weak. Vulnerable. My guard completely falls in your presence and my head is filled with thoughts solely about you. I can't concentrate- can't function- because you occupy every single space within my head, and heart."

Her gaze softened along with her own heart at his confession.

"If you haven't already noticed, Caroline, I am in _love_ with you. I know that I can never fully receive your forgiveness because all of the harm I've caused before, but you overlooked that and saw me as a man. A man with some fucking issues, but a man nonetheless. Can't you see? All of these reasons played a factor in why I had to leave. I am completely incapable of functioning, or even producing a coherent thought. I had to leave, only for a bit, to get my thoughts straight before I did something really stupid that could have resulted in you leaving my life. And that is something I could not tolerate, love."

He heard a small sniffle coming from Caroline's direction.

"My worst fear is to witness you leave this earth before me. There would no longer be a purpose for my existence, and I would walk distances in flames so that I could follow you wherever we vampires go after death."

Klaus heard the sniffles more frequently now after his confession. Though he would probably never admit it, he felt a little weight lift from his shoulders. He finally told Caroline the reason behind why he left. He told her he loved her. And he had yet to receive a reply. This made him inwardly gulp.

Caroline quickly blinked her eyes when she noticed her vision blurring. She tried to keep the tears at bay all the while attempting to not choke on her sobs. It was noticeable that the trembling in her shoulder was soon about to take over her entire form. Klaus was having an internal struggle.

To reach out to her, or to keep his itching hands to himself.

It had been so long since he last caressed her soft skin.

But he would not make the first move. The decision should be all hers. If she decided to walk away, he wouldn't know what to do with himself- but he would deal with it. However, if the woman took the step into his embrace then within his arms is where she will always be from then on. There was a tight coil in the gut of his stomach as he watched Caroline bite her lip. He could tell that her mind was working a mile a minute. The Original was just hoping that her thoughts were leaning in more of his favor. All thoughts vanished when Caroline took a hesitant step towards him. Then another.

And another.

Klaus held his nonexistent breath when the blonde was only centimeters away from his face. He didn't allow himself to celebrate just yet. He of all people should know that Caroline Forbes was filled with surprises, and this didn't mean anything until she said the words that he longed to hear. If it weren't for her minty breath gently fanning his lips (and his super vampire hearing) he wouldn't have known she spoke.

"How do I know you won't leave me again?"

His chest tightened at her quiet voice? The vampire could tell she was very nervous. In a voice just as quiet as hers, Klaus whispered, "I made a mistake. My actions were wrong when I thought it was best to leave. I should have stayed by your side, but no matter what- I am a vampire, darling. Not a time traveler. I cannot change the past, but I know now what I want." His eyes glazed over when Caroline took the final steps into his arms. She held his waist in a vice-tight grip and buried her face in his muscled chest. That same chest filled with euphoric warmth at the feel of her body flush against his. There forms fit perfectly together.

Klaus's undead heart clenched at the feel of her hot tears staining his shirt. Her tears was one of his biggest enemies. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders while the other held her head against his chest. Lowering his head, he spoke into her ear. "No tears, love. Unless they are of joy or laughter. I promise you that I will never leave again, and I am a man of my word. Your side is where I always want to be."

"I always want to be in your arms," Caroline sighed.

"Do I sense a smile?" He took the action of her arms tightening around his waist as a reply. "We've been through hell, but I know we're better than our petty fights. We'll work on fixing it together, and we will get through this _together_."

"I can see that you're still corny as ever," her raspy voice teased.

"Only for you, love."

It was at this point when Caroline realized that her throat was completely clogged. She had to try to not choke on the sobs of relief. Her entire form, especially her heart, felt so light. So warm. She missed this feeling. In his arms during this very moment, Caroline finally accepted what she was feeling for this man. She always knew what it was, but never allowed for herself to grasp it. Yes, she called Klaus a coward, but she was just the same. For so long she feared her feelings for him. But in this moment, she embraced her feelings just as tight as she embraced the only person that could evoke those emotions.

Caroline could feel her torn heart slowly stitch itself back together.

"_I love you._" Those words held so much promise.

"I know, Caroline."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Before I get into business, I have a funny story for you. As I was almost done editing and writing the "A/N's", instead of clicking on another tab like I intended to do- I CLICKED ON THE EXIT BUTTON. Or the close button, whatever you want to call it. My heart dropped. Luckily, the beginning "A/N" was saved.

Anyways, I'm on a rooooooll because I already have an idea for the next chapter. I forgot to mention: **If you may have any idea for a one-shot for this couple and would like to see it transformed into a fanfic by me, please present your idea through a review. If your idea catches my interest, I will most likely work my butt off to write it!**

Yes, this is my way of propaganda to have you people review. So in that case: please review, _review, **review.**_

Thank you for reading.


	3. fly me to the moon

**A/N: **I do not own Vampire Diaries.

Hello, everyone! How are you? First off, I would like to thank every single one of my reviewers. Every single review I received placed the hugest smile on my face and touched my heart deeply. I've never received this kind of response before. There are some reviews that I would like to respond to:

To those who cried, I am speechless. I would have never thought that any sort of writing that I produced could actually make some people cry. And I am so happy that it did! (That totally doesn't sound creepy.) I never thought my writing was good enough to evoke such an emotion, and I am just in shock. Grateful nonetheless!

To those who are wondering what happened to that poor pigeon or the truck driver, no worries is all I can say! They're fine, and I am actually trying to cook up another one-shot that addresses what happened to them both afterwards. We will see.

_Thank you to all of my readers and reviewers. I appreciate you all so very much._

***Spoilers:**

**(**And yes, I did watch the finale. Yes, my heart did break. Yes, I cried like a baby with lots of salty tears, boogers, and the whole shebang (When Klaus died, but especially when Alaric said goodbye to Jeremy. I really did love Alaric). Yes, I DO BELIEVE Klaus will live on. Hate the fact that he's in Tyler's body though. Why? Because what the hell is Joseph Morgan going to do? fuuuuuck. But loved that Klaroline 'kissed'. Sort of. Whatever. My heart just hurts without my JoMo.**)**

Since this is a place of a collection of one-shots- here is another one! It does not necessarily relate to the story of the previous two chapters other then having some awesome/cheesy KLAROLINE-NESS! The good stuff.

Please excuse all mistakes. I do not have any sort of beta or editor and I tend to always miss my errors _after_ I publish it.

_Enjoy! _

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><p>"<em>Some day, when I'm awfully low,<em>

_When the world is cold,_

_I will feel a glow just thinking of you..._

_And the way you look tonight."_

_**The Way You Look Tonight-**_**Frank Sinatra **

"Where are we?"

A blonde female questioningly looked at her companion as she entered the luxurious lounge on his arm. She tightened her grip out of nervousness when she took in her surroundings.

"You'll be fine, love. I'll tell you in a moment."

His small smile dissipated her anxious thoughts.

Caroline wandered her eyes over the crowd scattered around the dim room. She could feel the stares from several occupants as her and Klaus made their way towards the bar. The lounge wasn't huge, but it was a decent size to fit about seventy people. Everyone there was dressed to fit the occasion, seeming like they just all walked out of a time machine from the speakeasy 1920's. The men wore fitted suits of whites and blacks. While the woman were adorned in the typical flapper dresses with an abundance of feathers, headbands, and pearl beads. The blonde felt out of place amongst all of the gorgeous people. They walked around with cigarettes in between their fingers and created an air as if they were superior.

Caroline felt like the unwanted newbie walking into exclusive territory. Usually she was the one that walked around like she owned the place. Saying that she was nervous would be an understatement, but did she show it?

Nope.

This _was _Caroline Forbes, after all. She'll walk into anywhere acting like she was the Queen Bitch. She never falters.

Not for anyone.

...

Fine.

The man whom she entered with has made her falter at some points, but it wasn't fair! He knew that she adored his deep blue eyes and he would constantly use them to his advantage.

"Something on your mind?"

Caroline looked up from her seat on the stool in front of the large bar. She was met with the shiny green eyes of the bartender. He was tall with dark hair swooped to the side and was dressed in a simple white button up shirt and black vest.

"You alone?" he asked.

The vampire shook her head, "No. I'm here with..." She trailed off as she frantically turned her head side to side. Caroline couldn't seem to find her partner. Any other time she would easily be able to spot him in a large crowd, but there were just too many bodies in the room. The dim lights and the smoke didn't really help her vision either. _The dick just abandoned her! _She quietly growled under her breath when the man spoke again.

"So, it does seem that you're here alone. Well darling, how about a drink to both you and I?"

The female raised an eyebrow. "And what would we have a drink to exactly?"

"To the both of us for being single." He winked before reaching under the bar to pull out a tall bottle of alcohol and two shot glasses. In less than three seconds he opened the bottle and expertly poured the drinks without spilling a drop. He handed her a glass- making sure to 'accidentally' brush his fingers against hers- and held one for himself.

"You're fast," Caroline muttered mostly to herself.

He gave her a mischievous smile at her observation. "Let's just say I'm good with my hands. Now drink up!" The tall bartender clinked his shot glass against hers before downing his drink in one gulp. Following his lead, Caroline wasn't out-shown as she tilted back her head and took the shot like a pro. Come on now, she's been to enough high school parties that supplied plenty of alcohol. She's built a tolerance towards the burn of the liquid as it made its way down her throat.

Plus, she's a vampire.

Drinking alcohol now was like drinking soda pop. Only difference would be that after about eleven shots would her body begin to tingle with numbness and her head feel lighter. Also known as- being tipsy.

Before the girl could even place her glass back onto the counter there was another shot filled to the brim waiting for her. "Another?"

"Of course. This _is _the 1920's, sweetheart. Unless, you're light-weight and can't handle it?" His green orbs dared her to prove him wrong.

And a Forbes woman never backed down from a challenge.

With narrowed eyes, she snatched the drink and quickly took it down. Caroline slammed the glass and licked her lips in a very unlady-like way. She noticed that the man also didn't miss the action and his eyes turned a darker shade.

"Light-weight, my ass," Caroline stated with triumph.

Leaning onto the shiny wooden counter the bartender spoke in a breathless voice, "I've never encountered a woman like you before."

"You barely know me."

"Exactly why I would enjoy learning more about you."

In a bored tone Caroline stated, "I don't tell my life story to strangers," and continued to fiddle with the empty shot glasses.

"If you give me the chance I would love to no longer be a stranger to you. First off, my name is Ben, and yours?"

"I don't know you," the blonde aggressively tried to clarify. She didn't know who the hell this man was, but she wanted to keep it that way. Even if he was gorgeous. _Hot damn_ gorgeous, actually. Maybe Bonnie would be interested...

"_Get to know me, love."_

Whoa.

Well, didn't that just sound really familiar.

Total deja vu.

Speaking of men who were fond of calling her by corny nicknames. Where was that ditching motherfuc-

"Love."

Ahh, now _that_ was the type of 'love' she was very accustomed to hearing. Spoken with his sexy British accent and everything. Coming out of his sexy pink lips.

Drool.

Caroline swiveled her stool around so she could stare at her man as he made his way towards her. She took in his appearance which made her ovaries want to burst. Off-white colored suit. Shiny dress shoes. His curly hair tamed. His dazzling smile. Piercing blue eyes.

Ugh.

Just _ugh._

Looking at him made her tummy fill with butterflies and her heart do the tango. His smoldering looks made her feel nervous every single time. The Mikaelson man was actually giving her one of his looks now. The look that he usually pulls out when he wants something or when he's done something that would get him into trouble.

Oh yeah.

When Klaus finally reached her, Caroline hissed, "You ditched me here by myself, you inconsiderate asshole!" She poked him hard in the chest in attempt to release her irritation with the man.

"No need to be angry, love."

"Whatever. Where did you go?"

He shrugged. "Had some quick business talk to attend to. Hope you weren't too lonely?"

"No worries. I kept this fine lady some company."

Both vampires turned to stare at the bartender who seemed to have enough guts to interrupt. Ben flashed Klaus a small smirk before training his eyes on Caroline again. "Another drink?"

Said female shrugged before giving a nod.

Why the hell not.

Free drinks are always the best kind.

Caroline was about to grab the freshly poured shot when another hand beat her to it. She scoffed with her mouth held open as she watched the old vampire gulp down the alcohol.

_A ditcher and a thief!_

"That was mine, you know," sneered the blonde at her- man. Though they were a couple, it felt sort of weird referring to the big bad Klaus as her boyfriend. He said it made him sound like a wimp.

"I know. No more drinks for you."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Sorry, I don't take commands from a ditcher."

"I would never leave you, Caroline," he said with so much sincerity.

"Actually, my good man, you _did_ leave the lady alone earlier. Isn't that right, _Caroline_?"

Ah, damn.

Ben knew her name now. Thanks a lot, Klaus.

The female turned to give Ben a look that said, _'you better stop talking before you die by the hands of an Original'_. She shook her head as it seemed that her warning to Ben went in one ear and out the other, and he just threw her another smile. He took her warning looks the wrong way.

The guy was going to be in a place of a lot of hurt if he kept this up.

"I'd appreciate it if you ceased to interfere in our conversation, _my good man,_" Klaus mocked the other man's previous words.

Ben raised his arms in surrender. "Hey no need to get angry with me. I mean, it's not my fault that your lady was sitting here by herself."

Klaus took a threatening step towards the bartender when a small hand landed on his hard chest. He broke his heated glare to stare at the beautiful blonde.

Caroline's eyes seemed to plead with him as she asked, "Dance with me?"

He opened his mouth to retort with a 'no' so that he could strangle the man behind the counter, but then she did those big doe-eyes thing with the pouting lips and he couldn't deny her. As if he could deny her anything, anyways. He would personally carry the moon on his back and present it to her if that's what she wished for.

With a sigh, Klaus grasped onto Caroline's hand and led her to the middle of the lounge where bodies were swaying to the slow tune. Holding one hand and placing the other on the small of her back, he pressed Caroline against his body leaving no room in between. The Original threw the envious bartender a glare before meeting the woman's blue eyes. He loved her eyes. It was his one source of looking into her soul and knowing exactly how she felt. Her eyes were big, and expressive with hints of gold that shined in the light. Staring into her eyes made his own chest fill with a warm sensation.

Caroline tilted her head to the side and inquired softly, "What?"

"What do you mean 'what'?"

"Why are you giving me a funny look?"

Klaus chuckled, "I'm glad my look of adoration for you is considered funny."

The female gave him a smile meant only for his eyes as she rested her head on his shoulder. They continued to sway to the voice of Frank Sinatra playing in their ears.

"I leave you for a short moment and you already have men flocking to you. What am I supposed to do with you?"

"Love me?" teased Caroline.

"I already do."

Did she mention that she really loved this man?

Caroline tilted her head back and looked up at his face. "Geez, you're such a cheeseball! Careful, Mr. Original. Don't want people to think you're beginning to getting soft."

He scoffed, "Sweetheart, I think you of all people should know that I don't care about what people think of me."

"Yeah, I think all of Mystic Falls already got that."

Klaus furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He thought that they've already crossed that bridge long ago. He knew that his past actions had caused her life to become chaotic, but that was before she gave him a genuine chance, and look at them now. Going strong and forward.

And yet, he felt he sensed some bitterness in her tone.

Sensing a change in the mood of the man in her arms, Caroline brushed the back of her fingers across his cheek. "What are you thinking?" Klaus raised his eyes to look into hers. Though the both of them had blue eyes his were so different. While her eyes were bright and sparkling, his were so..

Deep.

Every time she stared into them she felt like she was discovering something new. His orbs were like an endless sea. Everything he's ever witnessed or experienced seemed to be swimming in the depths of his eyes. They were so expressive, yet guarded in a way.

Probably trying to shield away the bad memories to make room for the new and good.

.

.

.

For Caroline Forbes.

Both vampires blinked their eyes at the same time. Ridding them of their sudden silent stupor. But leave it to Klaus to always being the serious one. "Are you happy?" he simply asked. He sounded like he wanted to say more, but Caroline didn't push him. She gave him a quizzical look as to where his question came from. She wanted to pinch his adorable British cheeks and exclaim, 'Duh!', but she couldn't because she knew that deep down inside, this was a serious question for Klaus.

She thought over her words carefully before responding.

"With you, I'm always happy."

Caroline noticed the 'worry wrinkles' in his forehead disappear and his eyes gained a shine to them. "You're always happy with me?"

The blonde nodded, "To infinity and beyond!" She let out a loud laugh as Klaus suddenly twirled their bodies and bumped into some other dancers. Yep, his mood totally changed.

"Please tell me that you did not just quote a children's movie, love."

Caroline's laugh turned to giggles before she said, "But if I told you that then I would be lying, and we don't lie to each other."

Klaus nodded in agreement. "That's right, love."

Letting go of Klaus's hand (which she noticed he didn't appreciate very much by the way he frowned) to rest both of her arms on his shoulders, Caroline played with the curls on the back of his nape. She gave him her shining smile.

"Oh, and to reply to your earlier statement-" Klaus gave her a confused look. "It's not my fault that men just happen to _'flock'_ to me. You shouldn't have left." The man opened his mouth to defend himself, but Caroline beat him to it. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You had to go do business stuff. Whatever, I get it."

Klaus leaned in to whisper in her ear, "You want to know what I think? I think it's this bloody dress that you decided to wear tonight. They can't seem to look anywhere else, but at you like if you were some prey." He leaned back at this moment to catch her expression. Caroline's mouth was open in protest. "I told you not to wear something so revealing. Your body is for my eyes only. Now, you've given me no other choice but to have to gauge every man's eyes out in this room that dared to gawk at you."

Caroline seemed to have found her voice, "Now, you're just being extreme. Plus, my outfit it totally _not_ that revealing." The young woman looked down at her outfit consisting of white flats, a red beaded and fringed traditional flapper dress, white gloves, and a feather clip that adorned her short, curly blonde bob."It's a flapper dress, for goodness sakes! It in no way shows my figure."

"Yes, but these flimsy straps don't do much covering either." Caroline blushed at the mention of Klaus noticing how the dress, though it did her curves no justice, exposed a bit of cleavage and a lot of creamy skin of her neck, shoulder, and arms.

"Well, I wasn't going to a place full of gorgeous people in a potato sack," she rebuked.

Klaus gave a hearty laugh at her joke. "The day that Caroline Forbes steps out in a brown sack will be the day of the apocalypse!"

"Hardy har har," the female deadpanned. She poked his ribs in attempt to tickle him, but frowned as Klaus didn't even flinch. So, instead she opted for sticking her tongue out at him.

They continued to slowly dance along with all the other couples when Caroline noticed something.

"So, this is a 1920's lounge, right?" She felt Klaus nod against her head. "Then why are they playing Frank Sinatra music? Wasn't he famous in the swing era and wasn't the swing era not until like the 1940's? Didn't the 1920's play more of jazz type of music? Don't yo-" Before she could continue, the man in front of her began to laugh. Caroline shut her mouth and pouted as she waited for Klaus's guffaw to die down.

"Take a breath there, sweetheart. Don't tire yourself out," he chuckled. He noticed her glare and cleared his throat before continuing. "You're absolutely right. Sinatra didn't become very popular until the mid-1940s."

Caroline gave a small triumphant smile at her knowledge. She knew taking that music history class wasn't a complete and total waste of her time. "Then why does it seem like they have all his songs on repeat? Not that I'm complaining."

Klaus seemed to have pondered this question a bit before shrugging. "Sinatra was a good man. His music is timeless and many people love him... You're a very observant one, aren't you?"

"Mhm. Just curious," Caroline agreed. "So, is everyone here like- you know..." The man waited for her to finish. She thought about the right words to say without saying too much because if it was true then that meant others could totally hear them. "You know, like _us._" She emphasized 'us' in hope of him understanding what she meant by that.

The Mikaelson man briefly scanned his eyes over the crowd before meeting her curious gaze. "Some are," he confirmed. "Not everyone, but maybe a little under a half are. Several of the females look familiar, as well."

Caroline gave him a stunned look, "What do you mean by that?"

"It's not what you think, love. What I meant by that is many of these females were once 'acquainted' with _Kol._ You know my brother and his reputation."

It finally clicked in her head what Klaus meant and she let out an '_Ohhh.'_ She shook her head as she thought about the youngest Original and his tendencies.

"That little man-whore."

The music ended and a more upbeat Sinatra song began to play. The couple halted in their movements and Klaus held onto both of Caroline's gloved hands. "How about a drink?"

The blonde game him a suspicious look. She wanted to say, 'Uhh, hell _no_! Not after you tried to break the bartender's neck like a toothpick', but decided to hold her tongue. "I don't think that's a very good idea," she chose to say instead.

The Original gave her a smirk as if reading her thoughts. "I promise to behave."

"That's not very convincing because your definition of _behaving_ might be different from the rest of the world's population. You do have a reputation of being a trouble-maker."

"Well I promise to behave like a gentleman, and I am a man of my word."

"Blah, blah. If you say so, but you can't woo me with your 'British gentleman' crap._ I'm too smart to be seduced by you_." Caroline bit her bottom lip as she repeated the words she once said to him so long ago. She hoped that he would recognize it. Only a beat passed before her smile grew larger as he gave her a knowing look. Klaus shook his head at her antics and he felt a wave of nostalgia as he remembered that night on the bench.

Did he mention that he loved this woman?

He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her towards his lean body. Brushing his lips against the shell of her ear, enjoying the way she shivered, he whispered,

"_Well, that's why I like you._"

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><p><strong>AN: **I think I've already talked too much in the above a/n. Soo..

Leave thoughts about this story and about your reactions to the Vampire Diaries finale!

Which means that you should totally review, _review, **review**_! My readers and reviewers are my motivation.

Thank you all, so much.


	4. how i show my love

**A/N: **Oh, how I've missed you all, my dear readers! And this pairing. Through it all, I will always love me some Caroline/Klaus.

How are you? I'm genuinely curious.

Do not fret! I have not given up on this couple, just enjoying my summer break and trying to chalk up some ideas for this thing I've got going on here, along with ideas for my other stories.

I listened to a piano version of "Sail" by AWOLNATION while I wrote this. Less intense.

Please excuse all mistakes. I do not have a beta.

Please, _enjoy!_

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><p><em>This is how I show my love<em>

_I made it in my mind because-_

_Sail!_

**_Sail- _AWOLNATION**

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'? You have no choice."

"Caroline, get that _thing_ away from me or I swear I'll-"

"_What?_ You'll do what? Get all Original Vampire-y on me? That's an empty threat, darling."

The man cringed as the blonde beauty shoved the pink and white polka-dotted apron to his chest. "You're going to help me with this whether you like it or not," stated Caroline in a tone of finality.

Though the woman could be intimidating doesn't mean he wasn't going to argue. He loved getting under her skin and riling her up.

He just enjoyed her. Period.

"Why am I even here? I could just leave." To emphasize Klaus took a step backwards toward the exit of the kitchen. He took another step all the while keeping a cautious gaze on Caroline, waiting to witness her flip a bitch. He was a foot away from salvation when he was hit by a wave of guilt. Not many things could evoke such an emotion from the man, but this blonde creature seemed to possess a magical hold on him. She had him wrapped around her lithe finger and she sure as hell used it to her advantage.

He didn't know whether it was a curse, or a blessing.

Klaus noticed that the woman's shoulders were tense as she continued to read the instructions on a box of cake-mix. Her back still facing him. He was confused that she hadn't swirled around and threatened to remove his male genitilia at the mention of him taking his exit.

The Original was sort of concerned. Just a little.

The man rested his back against the wall, inches away from the exit leading to the living room, which lead to the front door, which lead to the outside- baking free- world.

"Caroline?" Klaus immediately cleared his throat when he noticed his voice sounded _too_ concerned. "I'm going to take my leave now." He watched Caroline's shoulders suddenly sag as she let out a tired sigh.

"You really don't want to help me bake?"

"Honestly, sweetheart, I do not."

Caroline whirled around so quickly that he didn't have time to prepare himself for her onslaught of-

Puppy eyes and pouting pink lips.

He was so fucked.

"Why not?" Her broken voice shot a pang in his chest. "You always tell me how phenomenal your culinary skills are since you've been like _everywhere _on the freaking planet. You know how insecure I am about my own baking skills since they're nowhere near as good as yours. I just would really appreciate your help in this." She ended her sob story with a small sniffle.

She was way too good at this.

"Or were you just lying to me about your skills? It's alright if you suck at cooking, Klaus. I won't judge you."

The man gave an obnoxious, yet sultry, snort. "First of all, my expertise in cooking is top notch. Secondly, I just don't want to help to you in this."

"But _why not_?" she whined.

"Caroline, I'm not going to spend hours helping you make a cake for _another_ man. That's just not happening."

Klaus watched as Caroline stared back at him with a blank expression, blinking slowly.

He was waiting for it.

Then she rolled her eyes, letting him know that she finally caught on to what he was trying to imply.

"Seriously, Klaus? You don't want to help me bake a cake because I'm going to give it to another man? Are you kidding me?" There was so much disbelief held in her dry laugh.

"Basically. Yes."

_Splat!_

For even an Original, he had to admit that he only nearly dodged that flying egg aimed for his head. His swift movement caused the egg to crash against the white walls behind him. Inches from his face.

He looked to Caroline to see her face red in anger. "You're being fucking ridiculous!"

Klaus shrugged as he flicked a piece of eggshell off his shoulder. "I'm not the one having a childish tantrum and throwing eggs."

"Klaus." She gravely hissed.

"Caroline." He simply smirks.

"But you're obligated to help me."

"And why do you say that?"

"Because you love me. A lot."

The male vampire gave a genuine, hearty guffaw as he pushed himself off the wall. She had said it with such unwavering confidence, like if she knew that it was the truest fact known amongst man. He made his way towards his girl and rested his hands on her shoulders, staring into her pleading blue eyes.

He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear then cupped her cheek. "That is true," he smiled. Confirming her earlier statement.

Caroline's smile quickly dropped when Klaus continued, "It's very true, love, but I'm still not helping you."

Caroline opened her mouth to argue, but he interrupted. "I have other things to attend to, and _no_, you are not any less important because you are the most important thing in my life."

The blonde female melted at his last few words. He could be so sweet when he wasn't plotting his many ways to terrorize people. Thank goodness she finally convinced him to lay off her friends. However, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of swooning his way out of producing baked goods with her today.

"Glad you think of me as a _'thing'_," Caroline teased. "But you're still helping me because you are the one who scared this man so badly that he had a serious heart attack. He's basically traumatized because of you, too."

Klaus threw her an incredulous look as his arms dropped by his sides. "_Me_? You're the one who made the grave mistake of using your vampire speed in front of him to runaway _after_ you nearly had him run over you with his truck! It's your fault that he had a heart attack. I don't see how any of that relates to me."

"It's all of your fault!" she yelled, "All of that would have never happened if you never left me in the first place!"

Her lover's flash of genuine hurt in his eyes had her shutting her big mouth with a painful snap.

"I thought we were over this," Klaus lowly hissed through his teeth. Sadness and regret dripping from his words.

"We are! Totally over it! I-I didn't mean it in that way. I'm stupid. I shouldn't have said anything," Caroline lowered her head so she wouldn't have to gaze into Klaus's piercing, analyzing orbs. Damn it! Why did she always have to say something stupid?

_I always say the wrong things._

And in that very second, Caroline reverted back to her old self.

The old self that only spoke about the newest trends while her eyes remained on the rear ends of boys.

Immature.

Shallow.

Always saying the wrong things.

She never wanted to be that person again. Caroline knew she was so much stronger, both mentally and physically. Not because she's a kickass immortal vampire now, but because of all of the experiences she went through. No longer having to rely on someone.

She knew that she was one badass mother fucker.

(Not to be cocky, or anything.)

But sometimes, one should know when they were in the wrong.

Caroline released her bottom lip from it's seizure by her teeth. "I'm sorry," she admitted in a whisper.

She was ashamed.

In the next moment, the woman felt a pair of strong arms wound around her waist, holding her tight against a hard chest.

This position was all too familiar.

"Oh, my sweet Caroline." Said woman could feel Klaus smile against her forehead. He gave it a peck before leaning back a bit to gaze into her eyes. "You truly need my help?"

Caroline let out a sigh of relief and beamed a grateful smile. She knew that not mentioning the argument was Klaus's way of forgiveness. He was right. They were totally over it.

What happened in the past must remain in the past.

No use in nicking and picking at it when all was said and done about it.

She made a mental vow that baking this cake and giving it to Ted (the driver that had to stay in the hospital for a week for his near death experience, not to mention witnessed vampires- but Klaus already took care of that with some simple compulsion) will be the last reminder of that horrid event.

"Yes," Caroline nodded against his chest. She felt his chest rise and rumble, before deflating, his warm breath fanning her cheeks.

"Fine," he agreed defeated.

Being the tease that she was, Caroline couldn't help but ask, "And what about the pink apron?"

"What about it?" The man inquired slightly irritated.

"Will you wear it?"

"Caroline," Klaus warned.

"What-?"

"No."

"Fine, fine. That's a deal I'll take!" There was a beat of silence before the woman let out an excited squeal and hopped up, latching herself onto his body while her arms wrapped around Klaus's neck and legs around his waist. The Original was caught off guard (surprise) and had to sit Caroline's bottom onto the counter to regain balance.

She was so enveloped in peppering her boyfriend's chin, cheeks, and nose with appreciative kisses that she barely heard his whisper.

"But first..."

Caroline suddenly felt a mass drop onto her head as her sight was incased in white. She coughed as she used her hands to fan away the floating white particles blurring her vision.

"What the hell?" She looked to the offender and watched as he held a crumpled white paper ball in his hand as he smirked at the sight of her. The vampire followed his gaze and gasped. Her entire body- skin, clothes, hair, and all- was covered in white.

And here she thought she couldn't get any paler.

She looked like a ghost.

Caroline internally giggled at the thought. Now, wouldn't _that_ be a freaky supernatural turn of events.

An amused voice interrupted her muse. "Don't be angry, love. It is only fair."

Her jaw dropped. "Klaus! You wasted all of the flour!"

"I'll buy you more."

"Who's going to clean this mess? Cause it sure as hell ain't going to be me!"

"I volunteered to help bake, sweetheart. Not be your personal maid service." No matter how hard she glared, Caroline couldn't get rid of the cocky smirk plastered on his handsome face. The bastard.

Caroline let out an angry growl, though her eyes shined in amusement, as she hopped off the counter to attack the man in front of her.

"_You!_"

Sounds of feet shuffling and laughter, from both occupants, came from the kitchen as the day went on.

Sounds of genuine happiness.

The next morning, Ted woke up to the sound of constant knocking at his front door. He turned to his wife telling her to go back to sleep before he quietly slipped out of bed. Rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes, Ted sluggishly dragged his feet towards the window and brushed the curtains aside to see who in the world was banging at his door at seven in the morning, and on a Saturday for goodness sake.

However, the moment his hand touched the curtain, the knocking on the door ceased. Ted stood there, blinking to rid his blurred vision, and noticed that no one was standing at his door. Instead, he noticed something sitting on the ground. A box of some sorts.

A bit more alert, the man slowly opened his door. He looked left, right, then left again to see if the culprit was still there, hiding somewhere in the bushes. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Ted bent down towards the plain white box, and cautiously lifted the lid. His eyes widened at what was inside.

A cake.

There was a cake inside of the box.

It was covered in white frosting with little pink and light blue flowers decorating the sides of it. It wasn't exactly professional looking, but still nice nonetheless. On the top of the cake was a messy smiley face scrawled in black icing and a simple message addressed to him.

_"Sorry, Ted."_

The older man scratched his head as he read the message over and over again, trying to gain any sort of meaning out of it. His eyes flicked to a piece of paper peeking from under the box. He gingerly pulled it out, and read lowly to himself.

_"This is our apology to you. Don't worry, it's not poisoned. Promise. Have a nice day! From 'C' and 'K'."_

From the back of his mind, Ted felt like there was a memory from far, far away that was trying to scratch it's way back to the surface. He felt like he had an idea of who this gift was from, but shook it off. All he knew was that from the writing, it had to be a female. It was probably just one of his coworkers trying to be sneaky. He stuffed the note into his robe pocket as he carefully lifted the box off the floor. Ted shut the door with his foot and called out to his wife,

"Look at what we got, honey!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** For some odd reason, I quite enjoyed writing Ted's small scene.

Any ideas for this couple? Questions? Well, please do share!

_Reviews tend to leave a beaming smile on my face. Thank you._


	5. two in love can make it

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Vampire Diaries in any way- I just play with their characters.

**A/N: **So, I've missed you all. Hopefully you can find it in your hearts to reciprocate the feeling?

I've been so busy with starting my first year in a University and I've been swamped with school work and loads of exams one after another. A quarter system is quite fast paced. Also, some personal issues here and there, but who doesn't have their own issues to deal with? Excuses, excuses- I know! But it's the weekend and I had some time. I've actually been working on another story before this one which I'm beginning to think may be my best work so far! And it's lengthy! So look out for that possibly next.

I didn't intend for this one to be this long, but I was aware of my single status on February 14th, and started to write some Klaroline goodness to fill that void. Just finished it literally a few minutes ago.

On another note: Am I the only one that thinks that on episode 4x16 or whatever episode that Klaus is supposed to be getting some sexy time with a female character is actually NOT going to be with Caroline? I actually think it's going to be Hayley (whom, by the way I dislike), because what other purpose would she have in the Original spin-off than a love interest? And Joseph Morgan's tweet about receiving hate mail after the episode sort of added to my suspicions. It breaks my heart to think this way though, especially after all that sexual tension between Klaus and Caroline in the latest eps.

Feed me Klaroline love, my dear readers! On a brighter note, please excuse all mistakes, and _enjoy!__  
><em>

* * *

><p><em>Love is all that I can give to you<em>

_Love is more than just a game for two_

_Two in love can make it_

**_LOVE_-****Nat King Cole**

"I have the appointment all set for you. It's at two. I got you the full set."

"Thanks Bonnie, I really appreciate it. I was just so busy this morning that I didn't have time to call them- wait. What's the _full_ set?"

"You really have to ask?"

"Now you're making me scared…"

"Caroline, you've done this plenty of times before."

"I know that, but it's going to be more painful since I haven't done it in awhile."

"It's okay, I would be nervous too."

"Well thanks for the boost of confidence! You and Elena better meet me there, or else."

"'Or else' what?"

"If you ruin my Valentine's Day, you two are going down with me and I'll make sure that Kol and Damon won't be getting any sort of nookie nookie."

"You can't ask Elena and I to go with you, Care, and then threaten us with no sex with our own boyfriends."

"Yes I can."

"Why don't you just suck it up and go by yourself? It's not like-"

"Yeah, yeah. See you later, Bon! Bye!" _End._

"The things girlfriends do for one another," Bonnie mumbles.

. . .

"Tell me again why this bloody idiot is here."

"Takes one to know one."

"How clever. Did you think of that one yourself?"

"Can we stop acting like kindergarteners and keep moving?" Stefan murmurs as he pinches the bridge of his nose, a headache already forming.

Klaus turns to glare at him. "I didn't want the company of one Salvatore to begin with, so what made you think that I would want a second one tagging along?"

"Hey, I'm not some stray puppy nipping at your heels. I would much rather be doing anything else, but it's your girlfriend's fault that I'm here instead with you two pinheads."

Klaus flashes to stand nose to nose with Damon. "You want to repeat that, mate?" he growls. He feels Stefan place a hand on his shoulder to try to put some space between him and his older brother, but the hybrid doesn't budge.

"Back up, Klaus. We all want to get this over with just as much as you do," Stefan turns to scold his brother. "Damon. Can you go two hours without being a dick?"

The dark haired man points to himself then gestures towards Klaus. "Me? He's the one that had a bowl of 'stick-up-my-ass' for breakfast."

"Say another word and it will be your last. I-"

"You're both wasting time as it is. I don't know about you two, but I would like to go home before one of the girls calls us again to have us run more errands." That seemed to shut both men up. With a small satisfied smirk, Stefan walks past the still glaring pair of men to enter the floral shop. He stops to stand by the entrance and takes a look around the store. Pink, white, and red flowers bloom in every crevice in every sort of shape. Majority in the shape of a heart. There's a crowd of old women 'ohh-ing and ahh-ing' in one corner while some other ladies glare bitterly at everything in sight. Then there's a few poor souls that look utterly overwhelmed about which bouquet to buy their significant other.

Stefan takes out his cellphone and sends a quick text to Caroline.

"_You owe me. Big time."_

. . .

Caroline winces again at another screech coming from the occupied room across from hers. She's dressed in a white robe that is as fluffy as a puppy's bottom, but she's too nervous to notice. She bounces her knee up and down while she sits and waits for the woman to come in and begin.

"Will you stop fidgeting? You're making _me_ nervous," admits Elena from across the room. Bonnie who is standing next to her looks up from the magazine to glance at Caroline with a shake of her head before returning to read.

"You should be nervous!" exclaims Caroline dramatically from her seat. "You're the one who's about to put me in a world of pain."

"Uh, you agreed."

"Well, now I disagree!" Caroline moves to stand.

"Sit," Bonnie sternly commands without lifting her eyes. The blonde obeys. She flips the page.

"You're going to be fine, Caroline," comforts Elena as she walks over to her fidgeting friend. "You've done this before so this should be easy. Plus, you're a-" She moves in closer to whisper in Caroline's ear, "-vampire." Elena beams at her and winks.

"Gee, thanks Captain Obvious," the blonde vampire pouts. Her phone suddenly vibrates and she smirks as she reads Stefan's text. Her fingers fly across the keyboard typing a short reply.

"_Love ya too, bugga-boo ;)"_

Caroline tucks her phone back into her small purse. She takes a deep breath and begins to realize that maybe she can do this. She's done it a few times before, of course not as extreme, but it couldn't be _too_ painful, right? Lots of women do it. Like super models and Brazilian chicks. So, why wouldn't she be able to handle it? Caroline inhales deeply through her nostrils and thinks, "_hoosah_". She plants a bright smile on her face as she waits for the woman to come in and do her thing. Elena smiles back in encouragement, glad that her friend finally decided to calm down.

A moment of peace. Then a loud shriek and groan from the room across the hall reverberates through the walls and it sounds so painful that it shivers the very spine of all three girls.

Caroline shoots up from her plush seat. "Fuck this shit. I am _not_ staying here for another second. This place ain't a spa, it's a fucking torture chamber." She snatches her purse and clothes. "I'm outta here." But Elena is already blocking the door, both of her arms extended at her sides to prevent Caroline from leaving.

Bonnie throws the magazine back onto the table with a sigh. "Will you stop being a drama queen?"

"Uhh, I don't see you two in robes and waiting to get their womanly body parts mutilated!" Caroline huffs and places her hands on her hips. "Unless you guys want to do this with me; you two can't complain."

"I already shaved so there's no point," Bonnie shrugs.

"Me too," Elena nods.

"Well I can go home and do that too. So, now if you'd be so kind and remove yourself from the doorway, I'd like to leave and-"

"Sit your ass down, Forbes."

"Stop being so mean Bonnie! I don't have to do this if I don't want to. Can we please just go get lunch instead?" whines Caroline with a pout and pleading puppy-dog eyes.

"No."

"Fine." Caroline opens her bag to dig her phone back out. She swipes her finger across the screen to enter the code to unlock it and begins typing.

"Who are you texting?"

Bonnie is met with silence.

"Elena, who is she texting?"

"How should I know? Caroline, who are you texting?" The brunette steps forward and cranes her neck to try to see the identity of who the blonde is communicating with.

"_Stefan, save me! My two friends have turned into mean bitches and they're holding me hostage against my will. Help a sister out by-"_

"Hey! Give that back!"

Elena quickly tucks the stolen cell into her back pocket. "Seriously, Caroline? You were gonna send a S.O.S message? And to Stefan? How was he going to help you?"

"He would find a way to save me from this torture chamber!"

The petite brunette ignores her and says to Bonnie, "She called us 'bitches' in her message."

"Mature, Caroline," the witch says. "You're the one who asked us to come with you today, so just get it over with and we can go grab something to eat after."

The blonde opens her mouth to retort, but is interrupted when the door opens and hits Elena on the bottom.

"Oh, I am so sorry! I didn't see you there, sweetie," a voice tinged with a French accent says. The employee is a short, young Asian woman with a stylish bob. "I'm Lucille, and you must be Caroline. Nice to meet you." She sticks out her hand with a large smile and Caroline shakes it.

"Nice to meet you, too," she mumbles. Caroline might be a brat at certain times, but she's never rude, especially not to kind strangers. Her shoulders slump in defeat and she lets out a sigh. "So, you must be the lady that's about to 'pamper' me?"

"Yes, madam. It says that you've requested the full set, is that correct?"

"Yeah…" Caroline looks to her two friends with a pleading gaze to let her off the hook. She has to try one last time. Bonnie shakes her head and crosses her arms across her chest while Elena throws her two thumbs up and a grin.

Feeling completely disgruntled and deflated she flops back onto the cushioned chair. She gestures towards her body with a flail of her arms, "Wax away!"

Lucille giggles at her antics.

. . .

"When I was young, I was the sweet pea that all the boys in town would chase after. I remember one time when I was sixteen- or was I fifteen? Yes, fifteen. I remember this fella, a tall and blue-eyed looking thing, came right up to my doorstep with the largest bouquet of sunflowers I've ever seen. But unlucky for him my papa was the one that opened the door, not me. Poor soul. He was shaking like a leaf! He went all pale and clammy, and couldn't even utter a syllable. My papa just stared the poor boy down. I tried to push him out the way so I could talk to the fella, but nope. He didn't even budge. This is where it gets good. My papa didn't say anything, but he crossed his arms and with one of his hands he stuck out his thumb- like this- and slowly slid it from one side of his neck to the other. Boy, oh boy! I've never seen anyone run so fast in all my lifetime. That fella shot off my porch like a rocket on the fourth of July! Then there was this other time whe-"

"Listen, lady. I would really prefer _not_ to fall asleep in the middle of the store. So this is me asking politely- buzz off."

The elderly woman stares at Damon with her mouth agape, completely astounded at how rude the man is. She lifts her purse higher onto her shoulder with her chin in the air and makes sure to bump into the vampire as she walks past. All the while harrumphing about "rude hooligans these days".

"We're here to purchase flowers, not piss off old ladies."

"Not my fault the old bat decided to blab to me her whole life story. I was just the innocent bystander turned victim."

"Yeah, well, let's just choose some bouquets and leave. We've been here longer than I would've liked," Stefan sighs.

"Aw, don't be a sour puss, little brother," Damon claps Stefan on the shoulder. "Just because you don't have a lady this time around doesn't mean your love life has gone completely to shit."

Stefan shrugs off his brother's hand. "Let's not venture into discussion about my love life."

"I'm sure Blondie would be more than happy to be your Valentine," Damon winks then glances in the direction of the hybrid. He thrives on riling up the ancient man.

Klaus, who had been eyeing a massive bouquet of white roses, perks up at the mention of a certain female vampire. He doesn't say anything, just stares at the two other men with raised eyebrows as if daring them to continue speaking. His hands are clasped behind his back as he waits. "Don't mind me. Please, continue with your little gossip session."

"I was just saying how since Stefan is currently flying solo that he should ask sweet Caroline to be his Valentine. I mean, there's plenty of Blondie to go around."

Klaus surges his hand forward aiming to bury his fist in Damon's chest, but Stefan predicted the move and smacked it away before it could make contact. His brother is stupid and possibly might have deserved having a hand plunged between his ribs, but the last thing he wanted to do at the moment was cause a commotion in the middle of a plant store. The hybrid is quick to counter and reaches to strangle the dark haired vampire with a strong grip around the neck. Klaus' fingers painfully press into Damon's cervical vertebrae and pulls the man forward to growl in his face. "I do hope you're not implying something."

With a roll of his eyes, Stefan moves to awkwardly stand with his arms crossed in front of the pair of idiots to block them from the view of any nosy old ladies. Stefan coughs into his fist to cover the grunt Damon lets out when the hybrid slams the older Salvatore's head particularly hard against the wall.

"Let's move this drama along, children," Stefan exasperatedly chastises.

"It'd be wise if you chose your words carefully when speaking about Caroline," Klaus warns. "On second thought, I don't even want her name uttered from your mouth for the rest of the day. If you dare speak ill of her again I will tear out your tongue and shove it somewhere dark, and very uncomfortable for you." To emphasize his point, Klaus grips Damon's throat tighter, making sure to dig his fingers against the bone.

"Understood, c-captain," Damon manages to gasp out sarcastically.

Klaus gives the vampire a pointed look before suddenly releasing him, causing Damon to stumble as he tries to catch his footing.

"Shit, Stefan," He grumbles as he rubs his sore neck. "You forgot to mention that a certain someone was a taboo subject today."

"Don't blame me for the stupidity that spills from your mouth. Ever heard of 'think _before_ you speak'?"

"I don't do well with following rules."

"Yeah. I can see that." Stefan's phone suddenly vibrates in his pocket. He takes it out to discover a text message from _'Caroline BFF'_. She thought it was cute to add in the last three letters to symbolize their friendship. She wanted to add in a little heart after her name as well, but Stefan had to stop her there. That was just going overboard. He reads it with furrowed brows, confused and a bit concerned at how the message is abruptly cut off.

"Who are you texting?" It's Klaus being nosy this time.

Stefan's eyes narrow a fraction in decision on whether or not to inform Klaus about the text. He might take the message literally and hunt down Caroline and the two _'mean bitches'_. He is known for overreacting at times, especially when it comes to the young Forbes. However, the hybrid is quick to catch the look on Stefan's face, and though he would never admit it, a heavy weight settles in the pit of his stomach.

"What is it?" Klaus asks instead. He sees the way Stefan flicks his gaze to Damon before looking back at him. "It's Caroline, isn't it?" He wants to ask so much more, but tries to reign in his apprehension. If it was anything _really_ severe, then Stefan would have said it already and bolted out the door.

"It's just a text from Caroline, but it cuts off mid-sentence." Stefan shrugs, "It might not even be serious. I'll just text back to see what's up." He quickly sends a short message asking if all is right with his dear blonde friend. A brief moment later his phone vibrates again with a reply.

"_Hey, it's Elena. I have to hold Caroline's phone hostage because she was flipping out earlier, but she's all good now. In a little pain, but that's to be expected. How are the two kids behaving?"_

Stefan gives a small smirk and replies, _"Still bickering like toddlers, but what's new. You sure Caroline is fine? She must have been pretty upset if she had to resort to sending out a distress text."_

"What did she say?" Klaus asks, trying but failing to keep the anxious tone out of his voice. He inches closer to Stefan to try to peek at his phone. Stefan raises an eyebrow at the snooping hybrid and crosses his arms, resulting in the device being tucked against his chest from prying eyes. "Elena has her phone."

Klaus furrows his brows. "And?"

"She says Caroline is fine."

"Apparently she's not if she had to send such an odd text to you. What did Elena say? Something must have happened. You sure she's fine?" The Original might as well have been bouncing on his toes with clasped hands in uneasiness. He is a short moment away from pacing back and forth in the middle of the store.

Stefan shrugs nonchalantly, "I don't know."

Klaus glares at the vampire. "Seriously?"

A snort comes from Damon. "Did you seriously just say 'seriously'?" He shakes his head, "Someone's been hanging around Blondie a little too much." His younger brother and the hybrid both throw him a '_well-duh_' expression.

"What exactly did Elena say? And I swear, mate, if you shrug at me one more time-" He's interrupted by the sound of Stefan's phone vibrating. Well, speak of the devil.

"_You would be nervous too if you had to get your private body parts prodded and waxed by a total stranger. But don't worry, she's in the good hands of a Brazilian cutie. He's way tan, too. Has a charming little Brazilian accent and everything ;)"_

"Stefan, what did she say now?"

"Umm…" He tries to stealthily stuff his phone into his pocket, but Damon rolls his eyes and quickly snatches it. His blue orbs widen when he's done silently reading the conversation between his brother and his girlfriend. Damon glances at Klaus, then at the device in his hand, then back at Klaus again. A slow smirk makes its way onto his face.

"Sounds like your girl is in 'good hands'," he snickers.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Klaus seizes the phone from Damon's grip and his eyes move quickly as he reads the messages. His fingers tighten around the phone as he nears the end.

"Easy on my phone," Stefan advises. "That's an Iphone 5, and I'd like to keep it in good condition, hence the screen protector."

Klaus' upper lip curls as a low growl forms from deep within his throat. "She did not mention a Brazilian _boy_ when she left this morning."

"Maybe she was too excited and forgot to tell you." Oh how Damon is having the time of his life right now. He notices Klaus does his angry-eyebrow-twitch thing that only happens when the hybrid is on the verge of being really furious, and his comment was the cause of it. Score.

"Shut up, Damon." Stefan eyes his poor phone in Klaus' steel grip in concern. He really likes that phone. In a calming voice, he says, "Just give me my phone and I'll call to get this all straightened out. Just ease your fingers and carefully hand it over. Yes- slowly now." He barely grazes it with his hand when it vibrates again, alerting to a new received text. Klaus pulls it back and reads on while Stefan drops his head in defeat.

"_I was just kidding. The employee is a nice little woman… I hope you didn't let Klaus see that. Should we be expecting a cavalry on their way?"_

Completely annoyed at the whole nonsense and being riled up over nothing, Klaus tosses the phone back to an unprepared Stefan and moves to exit the floral shop. His steps on the boundary of being considered as stomping, but Klaus made sure to keep it in control. He was _not _some 'toddler' that stomped around.

Stefan had to almost leap to catch his airborne phone in time. He lets out a sigh of relief when it's back in the safety of his hands. He turns to angrily stare at the retreating figure, "Damnit, Klaus! I said be careful with it!" As the brothers walk towards the front of the store as well, Damon reaches for Stefan's phone (again) and sends a reply back.

"_Ooohh, you just caused some trouble. Elena the Trouble-Maker. Tisk, tisk. Shame, shame ;)"_

. . .

"Ow, ow, ow. Ow!"

"Caroline, it's over. You're done! What are you ow-ing about?"

"That doesn't mean I'm not sore!"

"So you have to waddle around like a penguin?"

"Yes, Bonnie. It does. Walking like this relieves the pain."

"Well, can you waddle a little faster to the car?" Elena glances around at the curious strangers and smiles meekly at them as they walk past on the sidewalk. "People are staring."

"I don't care! They can't judge me until they've gotten hot wax poured onto body parts that shouldn't have hot waxed poured upon!"

"Think of it this way," Bonnie suggests as she grabs the keys from Caroline's purse and offers to drive since the blonde is obviously incapable of doing anything at the moment. "Now you're as smooth as a baby's bottom."

"Yeah! Totally worth the temporary pain. Pain is beauty, you know," adds Elena.

"Yeah, yeah," Caroline scoffs. "Can we go get something to eat now? I need to be fed."

"Next destination; the Grill. The boys are probably already there, and I owe Damon lunch for making him go along with Klaus and Stefan today."

Bonnie presses the unlock button as they reach the car. "Yeah right. Damon may be a dick, but he would never let you spend a dime on him. Too much manly pride."

"More like he's a lovesick puppy," Caroline corrects as she opens the passenger door.

"Please," the witch interjects, "Like you're one to talk."

"Trust me, Klaus is so beyond being a puppy." Caroline smirks and throws each girl a wink.

"Kinky," Elena smirks back.

Bonnie rolls her eyes, but the small smile on her face conveys that she's enjoying her friends' company. "I'm in a car full of perverts."

The three supernatural ladies laugh as they put on their seatbelts and pull out of the parking lot.

. . .

For a Wednesday the Grill is particularly busy. The restaurant is packed with families, teenagers, and business attire wearing people all grabbing a bite to eat at the local food joint. All of them entirely unaware of the very dangerous men occupying the booth in the corner of the room.

"So, I would say that today was a complete bust," Damon declares after taking a sip of his bourbon. "Stefan, you're precious cellular device is _fine_. Stop moping."

"I'm not moping," the younger vampire denies, and almost pouts- almost. "I'm just checking for any scratches." He's been turning his phone over and over in his hand since they first sat in the booth ten minutes ago. Examining every spot carefully for any damages.

"I wouldn't say it was an entire waste," Klaus says.

"What do you have hiding up your sleeve?"

"That is none of your business," he replies as he looks down at his own glass filled with an amber-colored liquid. The hybrid smirks to himself at the thought of his upcoming surprises for Caroline. Yes, plural. And just as he pictures the blonde beauty in his head she and her two friends appear through the front doors of the restaurant. They're giggling to themselves after Bonnie apparently said something funny when Caroline looks up and catches Klaus' stare. She beams a pearly smile at him as they makes their way to the table, eyes locked the entire time. Klaus catches the way she's walking is a little off, and his brows furrow in confusion. What exactly did she do today?

"Well, isn't it the three stooges. Why, hello there." Amusement shines in her blue orbs as she looks to the three men in acknowledgment. She plops down next to Klaus, and Elena and Bonnie take this as their cue to huddle into the booth. Elena next to Damon, obviously, and Bonnie sits next to the brunette at the end.

"Hello, love." Klaus gives her one of his exclusive small smiles and places a hand on her knee, softly squeezing it.

"Hi," Caroline breathes.

"This is a PDA-free zone."

"What's up your butt, Mr. Salvatore? Someone seems a little extra broody today."

"Look at what they did to my phone," Stefan tosses the device to Caroline and she effortlessly catches it. She flips the phone around in her hand trying to see something that has her friend in such a foul mood.

"I don't see anything."

"At the top left corner of the screen. Look! There's a scratch."

"Oh my God, Stefan. It's barely noticeable."

"It's massive."

Caroline sighs, "Whatever you say," and passes the phone back.

"Speaking of butts," Damon announces as he places an arm across the top of the seat behind Elena, "What's crawled up yours?"

Caroline pauses and glances at Klaus before returning to the smirking Damon. "What do you mean?" she asks.

"You're walking around like a penguin."

"Hey! That's what I said!" Bonnie interjects excitedly. The older Salvatore lifts his hand and forms a fist in front of Bonnie, waiting for her to bump knuckles with him.

"Don't leave me hanging, witch."

The smile falls from Bonnie's face. "I'll pass, thanks," she deadpans. Her happy bubble totally burst.

The blonde picks up the menu and begins scanning it for something delicious for her growling stomach. "I prefer not to talk about my mutilated body before eating, so I'll pass too."

"It wasn't that bad," Elena asserts from her seat.

"Says you! You two just sat and witnessed my pain while _I_ actually experienced it. Which reminds me, I'll be needing your phone, please." She holds out her hand palm upward and wiggles her fingers.

"Why?"

"For-" Caroline suddenly becomes aware of the watching eyes of the men. "For, you know- _that_ picture. I'm deleting it."

"What! No way, I'm saving it for memories." To make sure that her cell is safe, Elena drops it in between her thighs for good measure.

"Don't do it, 'Lena. That picture is priceless," Bonnie's eyes gleam with mischief as a sly grin appears on her face.

"I hate you both," Caroline huffs. She sits back into the seat, leaning into Klaus' side, and crosses her arms with her pink lips set in a pout.

"What picture?" Klaus asks, genuinely curious.

"Yeah, what picture?" If Elena and Bonnie refused to delete a picture of Caroline, it had to be some good shit. Most likely humiliating for Blondie. Damon so had to get in on this for black mail purposes and whatnot.

"Nothing any of you need to see." She throws her two girl friends a warning glare to make sure they got the message that no one, especially these three bozos, get to ever lay eyes on that horrible picture of her. Yes, it may be very funny one day later in life, but as of right now it is incredibly embarrassing. Like more embarrassing than eating shit while walking up the stairs in the middle of a crowded mall. So. Much. More. Caroline needs that photo deleted before it can ever be exposed. She just has to sneakily steal Elena's phone, like a ninja.

Feeling a new wave of determination Caroline sits up and slams her hand onto the wooden table. "Yo, waiter! C'mon, I'm hungry!" She laughs when Matt Donovan throws her the bird as he makes his way over.

. . .

The sky above Mystic Falls is a mixture of orange and yellow hues as the early sun rises. The date is February fourteenth and all Caroline wants to do at the moment is sleep to her heart's content, particularly because of the day she had a few hours ago. However, of course a certain English hybrid wasn't letting her do so.

Klaus gently runs his fingers up and down the female's spine trying to rouse her from her slumber. "Rise and shine, Caroline."

"Fuck off."

He pokes her in the ribs at her vulgar language. Caroline squeaks and scoots away from him before burrowing herself further into the cool pillows. She lifts a hand to flip him off to show that she meant business. She needs sleep, damnit! But at the sound of his low chuckle she knows he doesn't take her gesture seriously.

"I need you to get up, love."

"No more sex. Too tired," Caroline mumbles into the pillow.

Klaus lets out a loud laugh. This woman in his bed is too beyond remarkable, always surprising him left and right, and surprising him at all is a feat of its own. "No more sex," he repeats. "At least for the moment. I want you to see something."

There's a pause as the woman contemplates his request, then she groans and lifts her head to look at the small analog clock (because Klaus is too old and hipster to get a digital one) sitting on the bedside table. "It's six in the morning! What in the world is so freaking important that you have to wake me up at the butt crack of dawn?" Her eyes, still blurry from the deep sleep, narrows as she glowers at him. Her hair is a golden tangled mess sitting on the crown of her head. She has no makeup on and has the tiniest smidge of dried drool in the corner of her pink mouth. Yet, looking like a hot mess, Klaus thinks that no matter what time of day or what she wears (or doesn't wear, he prefers her in her birthday suit, but she's not a committed nudist so he takes what he can get) that Caroline is always stunning. Even with the dried saliva.

He shifts his body on the bed to reveal behind him exactly what he woke her up to see. Klaus watches with pride as Caroline's jaw drops and her now alert eyes widen, showcasing her cobalt blue orbs even more. Resting on the floor at the other side of the bed is an extravagant glass vase standing about three feet tall and inside of it is a massive amount of white roses with the tips of the petals expertly crafted with a blood red color. Of course he had to be all unique and still be a little dark in his own way. Nevertheless, the huge bouquet- there had to be at the very least one hundred roses!- formed in the shape of a sphere is absolutely breathtaking. Caroline has to give it to him; Klaus has exceptional taste.

"I'll assume that you being rendered speechless means you like it?"

Instead of answering his question Caroline hops out from under the blankets and crawls on the bed towards him to get a closer look at the colossal bouquet. "How did you even fit that through the door?" she exclaims. "You obviously couldn't have hidden this, so how'd you get it past me?"

Klaus shrugs. "I had to make some arrangements so that they'd deliver early this morning. I told them to text me when they were on their way and I stood outside to wait. Couldn't have them ringing the doorbell, but I'm starting to think that you might not even have been aware with all that snoring coming from your pretty mouth." He deflects the jab that Caroline directs towards his chest and grasps onto her wrist, bringing it to his lips to place a kiss on her knuckles. "Do you like them?" he asks again in a quieter voice.

Caroline finally tears her eyes away from the beautiful red and white roses to give Klaus one of her most genuine smiles. Her eyes shining with all the emotions she feels for this wonderful man with a dark past. She moves to straddle his lap and gently holds his face between her hands. "I love it. It's beautiful," she whispers. Her breath fans against his lips as she inches her face closer to his and she makes sure to get lost in his cerulean eyes. "And I love you so much more." With that Caroline closes the small distance and places her lips against Klaus'. The kiss is soft, like a caress, and simple but it holds such promise and everlasting affection.

The couple's moment is ruined when Caroline's cell phone rings to alert a new received text message. The woman sighs and pulls away to check who the hell decided to text her so early in the morning and apparently has very bad timing. It's from Elena. Confused, Caroline unlocks her phone to see what the brunette sent and she gapes at what her eyes meet. It's the picture. As in _the _picture of her taken yesterday that she wanted no other soul to ever witness its existence. The photo was taken by a random employee that happened to walk by in the hall that Elena stopped to ask if she could take a picture of them all in memory of Caroline's experience. The image consists of Caroline laying on her back on the salon bed with her knees propped up and little Lucille standing in between to (thankfully) cover her lady privates. Caroline's eyes are tightly shut and her face is scrunched up in the expression of absolute pain as Lucille did her job at waxing away. A white fluffy towel is clutched in between her fingers to cover her chest and stomach. In the corner of the photo is Bonnie and Elena standing by Caroline's head with large grins and both giving the thumbs up.

Oh, how Caroline wanted to burn this photo.

Under the image Elena included a short message.

"_Just thought you'd like a reminder of our terrific time yesterday :) I sent a copy to Bonnie, too. Happy Valentine's Day!"_

That bitch.

"What is it?"

Klaus' voice is closer than she expected and the blonde chucks her phone under the blanket and sits on top of it. She grins nervously at his inquisitive stare and gives an awkward laugh.

"Who is it?" he asks instead.

"Elena."

"What did she say?"

"Just wanted to say Happy Valentine's Day is all," she evades hurriedly. The look on his face conveys that he doesn't believe her one bit. She never was a very good liar when it came to lying to him. Especially since he's gain the capability of reading her like an open book.

Klaus stares at her blankly. "I don't believe you." In the next moment he's tackled her to the bed and thrusts his hand out to grab her phone from under the blanket. He's straddling her waist, but makes sure to put majority of his weight on his knees to not crush her, and is about to enter the number code to unlock the phone when Caroline stops him.

"Klaus! I seriously don't want you to see that! _Please_, just give it back." Her eyes are pleading and her bottom lip is protruding towards him. "You said to always be genuine with one another and I _genuinely _do not want you to see that picture." The hybrid begins to feel a bit guilty at the sound of distress in her voice.

Klaus sighs, but keeps a hold on her phone. "Is it something that could result in you being harmed?"

"Uhh… no."

"You hesitated."

"Well, I had to think about it!"

"Are you and your friends plotting something dangerous or foolish?"

"No!"

"Then if it's not something serious then I don't see the harm in checking exactly what has you so worked up."

"Because it's embarrassing! I look so horrible in that photo."

Klaus takes pity on the pouting woman under him and bends over to place a chaste kiss on her lips. "You could never look anything, but beautiful."

They hold each other's gaze before Caroline dramatically throws her arms into the air in defeat then covers her eyes with them. "Ugh! Fine! Look at it and guffaw for all I care." Taking this as his chance, Klaus unlocks the device and presses on Elena's name to enter their message conversation. He scrolls to the bottom and the photo that meets him makes all his thoughts crash to a halt. He taps on the photo to make it larger and he can't seem to process what he's seeing. Klaus doesn't know whether to laugh loudly at her expression and the whole absurdity of everything going on in the captured image or be fuming at the fact that there is a photo of Caroline with bits of her bare body on display and it isn't in his safe keeping.

Caroline decides to peek through her fingers since the man has been quiet for quite a while. He's just staring at the photo with an odd look on his face that she can't really place a description on. "If that picture gets into the wrong hands, it will be the end of me and the beginning of 'Black-Mail Caroline' palooza."

This seems to break Klaus out of his reverie and he looks at Caroline with a bit of anger mixed in with a whole lot of determination in his blue depths. "We need to delete this," he states.

"Right on, brother!" Caroline sits upright on the bed with Klaus still straddling her hips. "To my knowledge, only Elena and Bonnie have it in their possession."

"Tomorrow we will swipe their phones and delete the photo before anyone else comes across it."

"And we're deleting this one, too." Caroline lifts her arm to take back her phone, but Klaus raises it higher so it's out of her reach.

"No. We're actually going to keep this one, love." He moves his finger quickly across the screen and sends the image to his own phone in the matter of seconds. He smirks down at the woman's shocked face. She opens her mouth to protest, but closes it again when she figures that in the end Klaus will get his way and somehow keep the photo to stash in his stalker collection of things that remind him of her. Like her panties, but that's a whole other story.

"Whatever, you creep," Caroline exhales. "But why do we have to wait till tomorrow to go bust our mission?"

"Because, Caroline-" Klaus tangles one of his hands in her golden threads and the other moves to rest on her bum cheek, "today is Valentine's Day and I have much more in store for you in the next few hours. But first, it seems to me that you are no longer 'too tired', or are you?" He's grazing his lips against hers and doesn't move to make any more contact than just that. He can tell that Caroline is getting frustrated when she keeps moving to brush her lips harder against his, but he pulls his face back a fraction each time she tries.

Caroline quickly shakes her head, "Bring on the sex," and with that she latches onto his shoulders and pulls him down for some Valentine's Day sexy time. She and Klaus both have to admit; Lucille did a damn good job.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Guys, I really think I'd be very upset if Klaus made the two-backed beast with anyone else other than Caroline...

My heart hurts.

Also, it's not that I like Stefan being single or prefer Elena with Damon. I am just getting a bit peeved with Elena's drama and I believe that Stefan deserves a nice, sweet gal. I don't know, I shift between Stelena and Delena, but honestly I don't care. But do you know what I do care about?

That's right, Klaroline! And some Kleforline on the side never hurts.

Thank you so much for spending the time to read, I truly appreciate every one of you. Please _review, review, _and _review!_

Have a magnificent day from wherever you are!


	6. we got no money, but we got heart

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Vampire Diaries- I just play with their characters.

**A/N: **Thank you to the handful of readers that were kind enough to leave a review! I am so eager and happy to read your thoughts! And a massive thanks as well to everyone that favorited or alerted, like I walk around with a goofy smile after I see each one.

So, in honor of the hopefully Klaroline-goodness filled episode tonight, I have updated! Much faster than the last time, right? ...Right? And after episode 4x17, like c'mon. My heart was throbbing with all of their interaction, and oh! Oh, the words he said to her! Such a romantic that Klaus. Then the fact that she admitted to once considering the idea of THEM- oh dear goodness, sweet baby hippopotamus- my heart. I just can't.

Hopefully there is some sort of bodily contact between Klaus and Caroline tonight. Preferably the lips, or even anything below the waist is good, too. They just need to be together and make the two-backed beast to feed my shipping heart. And to rid the image of Klaus and _that _she-wolf (who will not be named cause I will throw a lamp) out of my brain.

Like, did I call that, or what? Ew.

This one is short. No, it is not the massive plot that I told you before that I was cooking up. I need to put together an ending for that one. So, soon, my lovelies!

Please excuse any mistakes, and _enjoy!_

* * *

><p><em>We got no money, but we got heart<em>

_We're gonna rattle this ghost town_

_This house is falling apart._

_**Anna Sun**-_ **Walk the Moon**_  
><em>

The Ayala Science Library is empty, save for a few bookworms, on a Friday night. Then again, people have lives and whatnot that doesn't include spending it cooped up in a building filled to the brim with dusty books. Caroline growls in frustration as she chucks her pencil marred with bite marks at her innocent notebook sitting atop of the large wooden table. She glares at it, investing all of her irritation into the heated look, then leans back in her chair with a sigh. She pinches the bridge of her nose as she stares up towards the high ceiling of the building. Words cannot begin to describe how deflated she feels. Her eyes begin to burn by the threat of tears forming, but she forces to keep them at bay. She lets out a shaky breath and reaches into her back pocket for her phone.

"_Where are you?"_ she texts.

Caroline inhales deeply through her nose, and holds it. The phone vibrates in alert a moment later. She exhales slowly.

"_The medical section."_

She furrows her perfectly shaped brows, but nonetheless packs her things into her bag and begins the trek towards the specified area. She walks past a few other students that are on their laptops browsing through Facebook or clothing sites, and she can't help but scoff. Caroline tries not to compare, but she can't stop the feeling of bitterness that makes its way up her throat and coats her tongue. She rubs at her chest unconsciously in attempt to rid the clenching feeling when she nears the rows of shelves that are dedicated to medical related books. She finds him browsing in the anatomy aisle.

"What are you doing here?" Caroline doesn't realize just how loud she spoke until she notices the young girl perusing through a thick book standing a few paces away flinch from being startled. She throws the vampire a quick glare before scurrying off in the opposite direction. Caroline returns to look at the man who still hasn't bothered to turn around and acknowledge her presence. How rude.

"Are you done?" he asks, back still facing her.

"I'm sorry, but I prefer not to talk to the back of your head," Caroline snaps in a harsh whisper.

Klaus shuts the book in his hand and turns to give her a small smirk. "Someone's grumpy."

The blonde tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Don't start with me right now," she grumbles.

Klaus can sense the warning in her tone and he lifts his hands in surrender before placing the book back into its rightful place. "All right, love. We'll take our leave then." He moves to stand by her side and places a hand on her lower back to lead her out of the building residing on the University of California, Irvine campus.

. . .

The couple enters their two bedroom apartment near the shore of Corona del Mar beach. The apartment itself is quaint, but quite spacious for only two occupants. The purpose of the extra bedroom is to be a guest room for the occasional Salvatore brother or others that decide to stop by while they're in town, but sometimes the room can serve as a place to sleep when the hybrid (and at times, the blonde vampire) get into arguments. But the latter hasn't been occurring as often because the couple decided to enforce the rule of no longer going to bed angry at one another. It took some adjustment at first, but they soon came to realize that the new routine produced good results. Wonderful- _mind blowing _–results.

Caroline huffs as she enters the living room and drops her bag onto the wooden floors with a heavy thud. She plops onto the black leather couch and throws an arm across her closed eyes. Her (boyfriend, mate, wingman?) partner enters the room at a much more relaxed pace, locks the door, and briefly shakes his head at her antics.

"Are you hungry?"

The woman winces at his cheerful-toned question and retorts, "Dial down the chipper will you?"

"Lose the attitude, Caroline."

"'Lose the attitude, _Caroline_.' Suck my balls," she mocks in her head. She grabs one of the plush couch pillows and hugs it to her face to scream within its fluffiness with all her might. The sound would have been deafening if it weren't for the pillow muffling her high-pitched shrieks. When she's done pouring her anger into the soft furniture she drops it onto the floor and begins taking deep breaths to try to ease the tight clenching in her throat from the lack of oxygen.

"Finished now, drama queen?"

Caroline lifts her hand to give him the bird before using that arm to once again rest it over her sore eyes. All that screaming didn't help diddly-squat with her pent up frustrations. Hands are suddenly grasping her ankles and lifting them up into the air. She feels the couch dip from the new weight and then her legs are resting on a pair of muscular, but lean, thighs. Klaus massages her calves as he asks in a softer voice, "What's wrong?" That smooth accent and his experienced fingers working magic on her skin basically has Caroline melting on the spot. She hums in approval, but also because she's too tired to verbally answer. The burning behind her eyelids starts up again and she bites her lower lip to prevent it from trembling. She will _not _cry over this. It is petty, and stupid, and she will not waste tears over something so frivolous.

Caroline feels warm fingers try to pry her arm away from her eyes and even though she tries her hardest to bat away the annoying hand, Klaus is persistent. She gives up and allows him to remove her limb so that he's staring at her face, which is beginning to turn a light shade of red from repressing the waves of emotions. "Sweetheart," she hears him breathe. Then there's a thumb lightly caressing the nearly swollen thin skin under her eyes, and this is what breaks her. Caroline lets out a loud sob before the flood gates open. Salty tears fall from her blue orbs and her lips curl as the sobs begin to wrack her whole form. She begins to turn her body so that she can lay on her stomach and hide her face within the comfort of the couch cushion away from the judging world, but the hybrid won't have any of it. Klaus grabs onto her wrists just as she lifts them to cover her wet face in shame and attempts to yank her body towards him. But the woman puts up a fight. She's no longer wailing, but growling as she thrashes her body around and kicks her feet at his thighs so that he'd get the hint of leaving her alone. What was she thinking? Of course he's stronger. Of course he'd be able to take all of her hits without so much of a blink, and of course he succeeds in pulling her to sit atop of his lap. God, he is _so _annoying.

Silence rings through the room because both occupants are too stubborn and prideful to be the first to voice a sound. The only exceptions are the humming of the refrigerator and the sniffles and shaky pants of an upset vampire. Klaus is rubbing small circles on her lower back as she basically straddles him, but she makes sure to not touch him any more than she needs to. Caroline knows she's being childish and that the man in front of her didn't necessarily do anything wrong. It just so happened that- well, he is literally in front of her and her chaotic emotions have no other victims to target but him. Her eyes have been closed this entire time in defiance, but another slow moment of silence goes by and her curiosity gets the better of her. She cracks open an eye a fraction and the handsome face that greets her obviously catches her trying to sneak a peek. The hand on her back halts in its movements and a smirk crawls its way across Klaus' face. Caroline swears she wants to take her pretty pink manicured nails and scratch off his smug expression.

"Are you going to tell me what's the matter now?"

The last thing Caroline wants to do is talk about it. Like, what is there to talk about? She's a failing college student. There's nothing more to it. The shit's hard and she's now coming to realize that maybe she actually can't handle it. That all that bull Stefan and Klaus were feeding to her about her totally loving the college atmosphere and being surrounded by thousands of people striving to build a career was going to be _magical- _was just that, utter bull. The last place that she's been to that could even remotely be considered magical was Disneyland. When she was eleven. Sure, she's constantly surrounded by supernatural beings and all its nonsense, but that could hardly be considered magical. If there were unicorns and leprechauns prancing around, then fine- yes- all that supernatural fuckery _is _magical.

The hand makes its way under her shirt now and rubs a soothing trail up and down her spine, breaking Caroline out of her reverie. "If I tell you then you'll have to deal with another massive pity fest that I think even Noah's ark wouldn't be able to handle." The hand on her back dips under her jeans to tease the top of her cotton panties before leisurely going right back up her vertebrae.

"I don't have to _deal _with anything. I'm more than happy to listen."

Caroline scoffs, cause like really, this dude literally acts like he just came straight from a fairy tale with all his chivalry crap…

Wait. Did she just really think that Klaus came from a fairy tale? That might have been the most stupid comparison ever.

No wonder she's failing her courses.

The blonde groans loudly and drops her head in defeat as her pessimistic thoughts catch up to her again. Klaus deftly holds her chin between his thumb and index finger to raise her eyes. He looks into her shiny cobalt depths with his own and can't help the heavy weight that falls into his stomach at her glum expression. He's grown accustomed to her bright smiles and bubbly laughs that this new emotion throws him off a little.

She bites the inside of her cheeks in contemplation on exactly how she should put it, then decides on, "It's complicated."

"Then explain it to me." His hand moves to rest on the juncture of creamy skin between her neck and shoulder.

Caroline shakes her head, resulting in the now cold tears to fly off her blush cheeks, as she moves off his lap to stand. Making her way over to their kitchen she takes out two cups and a kettle to boil a fresh pot of tea. All of which were a housewarming gift from Elijah, and it's an authentic set, mind you. As in, really authentic. As in it's from the late thirteenth century because it was a gift from the Emperor of China of the Yuan Dynasty to the Mikaelson brothers as gratitude for their help in some particular affairs that Klaus still to this day won't elaborate on.

She feels his presence before she actually sees him. Her movements are fluid and routine as she flows through the kitchen to make her favorite flavor of tea: youthberry white tea, which is a little ironic. When Caroline is finally done and has the pot on the stove she turns to the man burning holes on her back. He's standing near the entrance of the kitchen with his lower back perfectly perched against the granite counter in all his suaveness. His expression is blank if not- what is that?- concern mixed in with a little fondness. The look on his face doesn't need words. All he does is raise one dirty blonde eyebrow and she understands. He's waiting for her to be the one to continue their conversation from where it left off, and that small tick in his jaw signifies that his patience is running a little thin.

Obviously, she is in no mood today to test the waters with his attitude so she just gives a little wave of her hand as if to nonchalantly brush the topic off. "You wouldn't understand," Caroline says. There is no malice behind her words, but her choice in diction probably wasn't the best for the moment.

"How am I supposed to if you don't give me the chance?" Caroline flinches as his tone. It was a low rumble from deep within his chest, but he might as well have barked it out at her. If there is one thing the young Forbes learned while her stay with Klaus is that he has perfected the art of sounding absolutely terrifying without so much as raising his voice past a whisper. Of course, he's never really directed that animosity towards her, it's just the situation at hand that he's upset about.

Yes, Caroline Forbes, is now a master at reading the Big Bad Daddy Hybrid's emotions like an open _Cosmopolitan. _She's got that shit down, and she's pretty sure it goes the same way with her for him. Finally understanding how he must feel with her vague answers and juvenile attitude, she let's up.

A huge gust of air leaves her mouth, one that she didn't even know she was holding, and her shoulders slump. "I'm not doing well in my classes." She catches the way his chin tilts down a bit and his eyes become even _more _piercing which indicates for her to quickly carry on. "By not doing well… I mean doing completely shitty." Her body tenses automatically, unconsciously. With all of her heart and soul she knows that Klaus will never physically hurt her. The thought isn't even fathomable, but sometimes, when they get into one of their really nasty spats, he can say some things that really push her buttons. Caroline is staring everywhere, but at him, especially his eyes. It dawns upon her that she's not scared of his anger; she's mortified of the disappointment that she'll see in his deep blues. If there's one thing she cannot handle, it's having someone be disappointed in her. It numbs her just thinking about letting someone down when they counted on her to excel. Plus, he's basically paying for majority of her tuition… Okay. He's paying for her entire tuition, but he insisted! She really wanted to show him that she can take care of herself and that she didn't need his pity money. It turns out, she did. Going to any University of California is outrageously expensive, but the one in Irvine is even more so. At least she made him pinky promise- yes, pinky promise- that she will pay him back. It's not even an option of letting him pay the whole thing without her paying a single penny, no matter how many times he tells her that he's _more than happy_ to help her pay for a wonderful education. Where has she heard that before?

The blonde is so enveloped in her thoughts that she doesn't notice Klaus' hands on her elbows gently tugging her closer until their chests are nearly brushing. "Caroline," he softly calls, but she seems to not hear because she's still wandering in her thoughts. He brings his hand to cup her cheek and his thumb grazes over her protruding bottom lip which is still swollen from all her anxious biting. This causes her eyes to flick towards his own before determinedly going back to stare at something over his shoulder. Klaus' eyes furrow in irritation. He doesn't approve when she tries to avoid his gaze because then he's unable to read her. Her bright cerulean eyes are her most expressive feature.

"Hey, none of that, love." Klaus uses his fingers on her chin to tilt her head up, forcing her eyes to meet his. "That's the matter in which has been bothering you?" A slow nod is his only answer. "You have to give me more than that, Caroline. You know you can talk to me."

Another slow nod is her only response, and Klaus begins to feel concern creep up his neck at her muteness. Then she whispers a raw sound, "I'm a failure."

"What? You know that's not at all true."

"But it is," her glassy eyes stare up at him, the orbs holding so much internal damage, as if she genuinely believes it. "I'm a vampire. Immortal. An undead being with supernatural strength, but what's the point of all that if I'm stupid?"

He doesn't know why, but Klaus' anger begins to prickle. At first he can't place the cause of it, but then discovers it's because of the way Caroline is speaking about herself. That she's given up and whole-heartedly accepts the blasphemous idea that she is incompetent because of a few failed exams. Klaus had seen one or two of her failed assignments that she folded and stuffed into an envelope that she hid in the corner of her underwear drawer. He still doesn't understand how she thought that would've been kept from his sight since she always makes him fetch her a pair of new undergarments anyways when they get a little too excited. When _he _gets a little too excited.

He uses the pad of his thumb to brush away one of the tears that managed to escape her watery eyes. "A few failed exams doesn't determine your intelligence, sweetheart. It's whether or not you tried your ha-"

"Yeah, yeah. If I try my _hardest_, but what if my hardest isn't good enough? I've tried _so hard_- sitting in the library for hours, reading the required chapters, doing practice questions- everything. It still doesn't work out for me, and it's not just a few exams, Klaus. I failed every previous exam given in this quarter's courses, and I'm taking four classes!"

Klaus gives a small smirk and tugs her by her arms until their chests are flush against one another then wounds his own arms across her waist. "A 'B+' on your last analytical essay is not considered a failure."

The woman rolls her eyes at his light teasing before burying her face against the soft, grey shirt covering his broad chest. "It doesn't matter. I need to do well in my chemistry and biology classes because those are a part of my major, and I'm failing in both. Not even a freaking 'D', but an utter 'F'. It could be a 'F-' for all I know! And it would be understandable if I went to like Harvard or Yale or something, but I'm not because even they realized that I'm a moron and rejected me. Don't give me that look- yeah, I remember what you said, 'UCI is a marvelous school' and I should be proud to attend it, but I- I just didn't realize just how hard it was going to be… Maybe my counselor was right. Maybe biology isn't my thing," she pushes her face harder against Klaus' warm chest in attempt to hide away from everything, to bury her face in disgrace. "Maybe I'm honestly not cut out to be a doctor and this is the universe's fucked up way of telling me." The last part comes out shaky and Klaus suddenly feels a warm wetness that assaults his chest through the shirt.

"Caroline," he soothes, a hand tangling its way into her hair. "You can be anything you want to be. The cosmos cannot determine your future."

"It's easy for you to say!" Caroline huffs. "You've been alive for since like _ever_, and you're worldly, and already so outrageously- annoyingly- smart. I don't think you could understand my situation."

"Though I know it may be difficult for you to believe, but I was not born with brilliance," Klaus smirks at the quick glare from his comment, "I've been on this earth for a very long time, love, and now so will you. You have an eternity to learn and practice whatever it is that you want."

"More like I have an eternity to be a dunce," she can't keep the bitterness from coating her words. If Caroline wants to have another go at a massive pity party, let her do so. She will milk every possible compliment and encouragement from the handsome man in front of her until she is effectively satisfied.

Hands suddenly grasp onto her shoulders and pushes her a step back. Caroline frowns at the loss of warmth and the earthy, cologne scent that is very _him. _"All right. That type of talk is going to end now, I don't want to hear anymore of it." Klaus makes sure that her eyes are on him as he says next, "You are a remarkable woman, Caroline. If you set your mind to it, you can do it. I've seen you accomplish far greater feats, and you will graduate to become whatever it is that you want to be; a doctor or maybe down the road you'll decide to go into art history- whatever makes you happy, sweetheart."

Caroline is biting her lip again, but this time because of a whole different reason. She nips at her bottom pink lip to prevent the large grin that is bound to split her face in two. A soft giggle escapes, "Who would've thought that you'd be the one to give me a pep-talk. I expected this from Stefan, but you?" She feels the small smile on his lips as he nuzzles the side of her neck.

"Always underestimating by abilities. Haven't you learned by now, sweetheart?" His tone shifts from a smug one to serious within seconds, "I hope you know that you should not concern your pretty little head over tuition either. Money should not be an issue."

"It is an issue for me! If I have to take summer school, which I probably will, then that just adds to my already humongous debt- but I'll pay you back! Every last penny." The hybrid lifts a hand to lightly pat the top of Caroline's golden crown. If it weren't for his soothing voice, she would have smacked that look right off his face for his demeaning pat on the head as if she was a toddler.

"I get it, love. You can take care of yourself."

Caroline gives a hard nod in agreement. "You got that right. I am an independent woman that don't need no man to pay for me." Her expression turns to one of curiosity as she asks, "What were you doing in the anatomy section of the library anyway?"

"Just thought I'd refresh my memory on the functions of the human body," Klaus shrugs. The woman raises one eyebrow and gives him a look as if saying, 'mhmm, sure,' but she doesn't push it. Feeling a whole new wave of vigor and determination, Caroline stands on her toes to give Klaus a quick peck on the lips in appreciation before brushing past him to skip out of the kitchen.

"I'm going to go study now," she calls, but then halts in her tracks to turn back to him. "Oh! Could you do me a favor and take the tea off the stove then stop by the grocery store?"

Klaus' eyebrows raise as he silently moves to flick the fire off and place the hot kettle that was beginning to whistle on the counter. He turns to her form again to wait for her to continue.

"I'll need some studying fuel in the form of a frozen dessert. Preferably, _Ben and Jerry's_. You know which one," she's throws him a cheshire grin as he processes her request.

"What happened to you not needing 'no man' paying for you?"

Caroline shrugs and turns back around towards their bedroom, a hop in her steps. "Thanks! Love you!" She waves one arm enthusiastically in the air in farewell without sparing him another glance and disappears into the bedroom.

Another moment passes by with Klaus just standing in the middle of the kitchen before he moves towards the couch to retrieve his dark coat and shrugs it on. He can hear Caroline zipping open her bag and tossing her books onto the desk as she hums a particular tune softly under her breath. She's always been a fan of those classic romances. He grabs the keys off of the granite counter and makes sure to lock the door behind him, all the while whistling "Moon River" along with her humming, a mischievous grin on his expression. When he gets back and Caroline's had her fill of reading for the night, he is going to show her _exactly _what knowledge he acquired from that delightful anatomy book.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I'm not the hugest fan of this one. Is it shitty? I really liked it in the beginning, but then it just sort of died out near the end and I told myself that I would not abandon it. Any Klaroline is good Klaroline! ...The glass if half full, guys. I tried to seam this together so that it was at least somewhat sufficient enough to post.

I wrote this during a time about how I feel about college and whatnot. The shit is hard. I just have to brush myself off, and persevere!

Also, do you readers actually care for the song quote? I mean, I'm still going to do it no matter what you say (I'm stubborn), but I'd just like to know if anyone actually looks up the song and listens to it while reading?

Please drop a review saying whatever you want: plot ideas, advice, critiques, motivational quotes to feed my own personal pity party, or you know- "This was utter shit." That too, I guess, if you really feel that way. _I appreciate you all so very much for spending the time reading!_


	7. i thought of everything i'd never regret

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Vampire Diaries.

**A/N:** I know, I know! It's practically been a year. I honestly had no clue it had been that long. I was thinking maybe six to eight months tops. Oops.

But, do not fear! Rejoice! For here is that monstrosity that has been haunting my brain for the past months because I could not create a flow to it. I'd write a scene and then I'd be stuck on how to write the next part, and the next, and the next. I was stumped on how to end it for the longest time and then I drank a cup of coffee this morning and read and watched a bunch of Caroline/Klaus and Caroline/Stefan shnazz jazz and bloopty bloop- here it is. The finished product.

It consists of 36 pages and 13,961 words.

The most massive piece of writing I've ever done for a one-shot. You're welcome.

I was thinking of dividing it up or possibly posting it as a stand alone one-shot, but I thought that you guys more than deserved the whole thing in one go after the huge wait.

I am quite proud of this piece. Not exactly my best possible work, but the best I've ever written so far. And now you all are going to judge me. Le sigh.

Enough of me! Please excuse any mistakes, and _enjoy!_

* * *

><p>I didn't want to be the one to forget<p>

I thought of everything I'd never regret

A little time with you is all that I get

That's all we need because it's all we can take

**_Instant Crush_- Daft Punk ft. Julian Casablancas**

. . .

A blonde rolls her eyes for the nth time. She is about ten seconds away from ripping the elevator doors open and climbing up the damn cables herself if that meant getting away from that _floozy's_ stupid little giggles. Like come on, some women really have no dignity left these days.

"You know, my friend won't be coming back to our room until late in the night. Really late. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I brought back some company, if you catch my drift, yah?" a voice suggests in a thick accent.

Example A, ladies and gentlemen. Point proven.

She is literally going to puke in her mouth from the smell of the tramp's cheap perfume and the nonsense spewing from her lips. The man next to her doesn't breathe a word, but gives a small smile in acknowledgement that he heard her. Caroline is going to stake herself. Seriously. She would do anything to get out of this metal box of Hell. Gathering all of the patience in the world (that even Gandhi would be proud), the blonde inhales through her nose and holds it. Not like she needs to breathe anyway. Caroline stares straight ahead at the silver doors, completely ignoring the other two occupants, and waits for the elevator to reach the fortieth floor.

There's three levels left when she sees movement in her peripheral vision and hears the stupid, obnoxious voice whisper, "So what do you say, handsome? Spend a night with me and I can guarantee yah've never had it as good."

Aw hell no.

Caroline whips her head to the side to catch the other blonde- fake blonde, mind you- running her fingers along the man's chest, their faces merely inches apart. The woman is attempting to flutter her eyelashes in a sultry way, but it's coming off as more of a twitching condition, while the tall man just stares back with an amused expression. Feeling a burning sensation from being glared at, the human turns to give Caroline a look as if she smells a pile of shit, "Do you have a staring problem, _gowl_?"

This hussy is so not making it easier on herself.

The dark wrath of Caroline Forbes (aka _Kickass_ Vampire Barbie) is a millisecond away from being released when a loud, single ding alerts the three occupants that the elevator has reached the desired floor. Caroline glances at her escape route and is about to step out while biting her tongue to remain silent when an idea pops into her noggin. She turns to look at the woman still giving her an ugly leer and leans toward the shorter blonde's face with a mischievous smirk, looking directly into her eyes.

"You're going to stop parading around like some strumpet and learn to keep your panties on. Clear? And get some class." The compelled woman nods once with a now blank expression and blinks slowly. "Good," Caroline chirps with a bright smile. She swirls around and walks out of the elevator with a small bounce to her step. She's a good twenty feet down the hall when she hears a posh voice call out.

"Strumpet?" it repeats in amusement.

"Shove it, Mikaelson," the younger vampire retorts, sliding her room key-card-_whatever-_ and pushes the door open. She tries to shut it with her foot, but Klaus is quick and avoids it as he enters, letting it loudly slam. Caroline winces at the sound and turns to glare at the English man. He just smiles at her and gives a look as if saying, '_you're the one who decided to go all karate kid and kick doors down, not me_'.

Stupid man.

Caroline walks over to the side of the bed and pulls out a large black suitcase, unzipping it open. She brushes past Klaus, making sure to bump his shoulder- hard, but it probably didn't even faze him since he's like centuries older, stronger- and walks into the spacious closet. Understatement. The closet is as big as her entire bedroom back home.

Home.

Caroline sighs. She has to admit, every once in awhile when she's feeling nostalgic, and had one too many glasses of wine, she misses that cursed hometown of hers. Mystic Falls; the one place where nothing exciting ever happens, but is the one town where every supernatural _thing_ decides to wreak havoc. Like what kind of illogical nonsense is that?

Her eyes quickly scan over each article of clothing, lips pursed in thought about what to pack. "Oh, whatever," she mumbles and stands on her tiptoes to grab an armful of clothes off their hangers. Hugging the garments to her chest she exits the closet and walks over to the suitcase, dropping the pile onto the floor. The blonde continues to make trips to and from the closet (always making sure to coldly brush past the smirking jackass with her chin held high) till the majority of her things are lying on the carpeted floor. Caroline plops down into a pretzel-style sitting position and begins neatly folding her clothes then tucking them into the suitcase. All the while humming a cheerful tune.

She's in the middle of humming _The Itsy-Bitsy Spider_ for the third time when she feels a tap on her left shoulder. Irritated that she was interrupted, (she was getting to the good part) Caroline hisses, "What?"

Klaus' face displays a restrained humor like he's trying to hold back a smug grin. He lifts a finger and points over her shoulder. "That's mine."

"Excuse me?"

"That's my suitcase," he clarifies.

With furrowed brows Caroline looks from the object he's pointing at and back to his shining, blue eyes. "No it's not," she denies.

Shrugging, Klaus steps over her huge pile of clothes ("Hey! That's my white Chanel dress you're stepping on, you punk!") and moves to the side of the bed. He grabs the second, almost identical, black suitcase and pulls it over to the sitting Caroline.

"_This_ is your suitcase, sweetheart." Klaus gestures to the many bright pink Hello Kitty stickers littering the handle and front of the luggage.

"Oh…"

"Right."

"Well."

There's a beat of silence.

"Are you sure? Because those stickers are _so_ more your style."

"Caroline," his voice is tinted with exasperation.

She scoffs, "Oh, don't you 'Caroline' me! You're still in trouble, mister."

"For?"

"Um _hello,_" The woman's arms wildly gesture in the air, "for what you pulled in the elevator!" For a guy who's supposed to be like a thousand years old, he could be such a dunce sometimes.

"Oh, yes. That."

With a growl, Caroline lunges forward to punch the standing man's thigh, but the latter is too swift and she misses causing her to fall forward. She could have aimed a little higher, but she wasn't that cruel. "I dislike you," she mumbles.

She hears him chuckle in return. "I didn't mean any harm in it, love." He watches as the woman pushes herself upright back in her crossed-legs position. "You know I only have eyes for you."

Caroline snorts, "Yeah, and that bimbo only had eyes for your pen-"

"Don't be crass."

"Go suck a di-"

"Hush, Caroline," the Original scolds.

The blonde turns her back to the man and returns to putting her things in _Klaus' _suitcase. "Suck it, Klaus. Leave me alone and go pack your crap, we're going to be late."

"We can always catch a later flight."

"Or you could just stop stalling and pack your shit." Caroline turns her head a fraction and sees from the corner of her eye that Klaus is still standing there with all his glorified suaveness. "Like now would be nice," she commands with a roll of her eyes.

Well, she attempts to command, because quite honestly the man doesn't take orders from anyone. The only time she's noticed that he follows some sort of instruction from her is when a bed is included. And they're both naked, or at the very least one of them is in their birthday suit.

You'd never guess that a thousand-plus-years old vampire would be so perverted.

"Why are you in such a rush to return to Mystic Falls? I thought you were enjoying our tour of the world." She swears she can hear the pout in his voice.

Caroline lets out a sigh, maybe she is being a little harsh. "Of course I'm enjoying our extensive vacay," she confirms as she stands and moves to be directly in front of him, holding his gaze so that he understands. "But this is important to me. Bonnie is turning _twenty-one_, and with her being the only human girl friend I have left, I need to be there. This is a crucial moment for Bonnie, Elena, and I. One of us is finally living a semi-normal life and is about to reach the long awaited 'golden age' in three days!"

The two individuals have a silent staring match. Caroline blinks first. There's no reply from the older vampire, just a raise of his eyebrows as if to say, _'so?'_

The woman growls, "I. Need. To. Be. _There_."

Klaus throws his hands up, palms outward, in a gesture of surrender. "Fine, fine. Anything you wish, love." He swoops down and gives her temple a quick peck before turning away. She hears him rumble something about '_unnecessary' _and '_human traditions'_ as she watches him enter the closet.

Caroline shakes her head. This is going to be a long flight from Dublin to Mystic Falls.

. . .

It's been about twenty-minutes, give or take, since the plane took off and is currently smoothly gliding through the clouds, yet Caroline can't seem to will herself to release Klaus' poor hand from her monstrous grip. It's something about being thousands of feet in the air while going a bazillion miles per hour inside of a metal tube that has her all worked up. The fact that she's been traveling from continent to continent with this man for a year and a few months now doesn't ease her nerves. It's not even the flying in a plane part that has her jittering in her seat! It's about being in a blasted _metal contraption_ in the _sky _which she doesn't even understand how it _gets_ in the air, no matter how many times Klaus tries to explain it to her. Thus, this is how she deals with it: releasing the wrath of her claws on Klaus' appendage. It's not like she could actually hurt him anyways she assures herself, but still. Her hands are clammy and she's certain she's punctured his skin with crescent-shaped wounds. Not a very fun experience for him.

Her hands are shaky and tense when she releases his (poor, _poor_ impaired) hand.

"Sorry," Caroline mumbles, face red and eyes downcast. She's about to place her sweating hand on her lap when Klaus snatches it back, holding it tightly, but not to the point of eliciting pain.

He brings it to his lips and places a soft kiss on her knuckles. "There is nothing to apologize for, sweetheart."

God. This man.

This man could be the sweetest cuddle bear when he wanted to be. She's told him this once before, and he reacted like any macho man would've. He pounded his chest with a fist and told her to fetch him a beer while he kicked his feet up on the coffee table, lounging on the couch with his arms folded behind his head. So, she obeyed like a good girlfriend.

And chucked it at his face from the kitchen.

He's lucky that he's fast and the glass bottle only slightly grazed his cheek.

"Have you spoken to anyone to let them know we're on our way?" He asks as he rests their intertwined hands on his thigh.

Caroline blinks out of her reverie with a small smirk. Clearing her throat, she answers, "Yeah. I called Stefan back at the airport when I left to find a restroom. He said that everyone's really excited to see m- _us-_ since it's been so long. Can you believe it? It's been a whole year since we've been in that little town! I still can't believe we didn't go back for the holidays, but whatever… He said there's no way in hell that his _'best friend and plus one' _are going to stay in a hotel so he offered us the biggest guest room in the boarding house. I'm the 'best friend' by the way, not you. You're the 'plus one'."

"I'm sure the other one won't be too fond of that idea," Klaus snorts.

She beams him a dazzling smile. "Actually, Stefan said that Damon didn't even put up an argument about it. Seems like the Salvatores miss their favorite blonde vampire more than they let on."

The man's eyes narrow at the mention of her being 'their favorite'. Caroline belongs to him. Those two baboons already have a brunette vampire to concern themselves with. They don't deserve to be associated with his blonde beauty.

Overprotective Original; in full throttle.

"You sure you're not elated to return home because you'll be reunited with your _dearest _Stefan and Damon?" Klaus sneers.

He's facing forward, expression blank except for the hint of annoyance he's masking. A moment passes and he gives Caroline the barest of glances to see that she's staring at him with her jaw slightly hanging.

"You're kidding."

Caroline is met with silence. The only response is the tiniest of twitches of his fingers that are still latched with hers.

"Seriously? Is that what that stunt back at the hotel was about?" she asks incredulously. Then the anger in her eyes suddenly flashes away and is replaced with a look of realization. "… Are you jealous?" she breathes, disbelief lacing her question.

Klaus has the nerve to give an out right guffaw in her face, and the fiery blaze is back in her deep blues. Caroline swears, if this man wasn't so painfully handsome, she would pummel his beautiful face into a pulp.

"I can assure you, my dear, that I am in no way jealous of those two smitten fools."

Denial. "I call bullshit. I think you're just grumpy that I've been so excited to go home that you feel as though you've been tossed to the curb, am I right?" Klaus opens his mouth to growl a retort, but the woman holds up a finger and continues uninterrupted. "And you're jealous because the Salvatore brothers miss me just as much as I've missed them, and they happen to be good looking vampires, so deep down you're insecure that your stunning girlfriend will leave you for one of the two gorgeous 'Italian Stallions'."

Her eyes watch his jaw tick. "I wonder how they'd feel if they knew you were equaling them to pretty ponies."

He turns his head away from her to observe the brunette flight attendant down the aisle hand out packets of peanuts. Caroline lets out a deflated sigh. She reaches for his chin with her unoccupied hand and moves his head to face her again. They're staring into each other's cerulean eyes and she catches the flick of uncertainty in the depths of his orbs. She bites the inside of her cheek. She didn't mean to actually plant a seed of doubt in his mind.

"Klaus, where am I?"

"Have you suddenly acquired short-term memory loss?" he deadpans.

Caroline rolls her eyes. "Answer the question, silly."

"On an airplane. Are you sure you haven't procured a fever?"

She smiles, "No, and right. I'm on an airplane- with you. I'm here with you, and not because you compelled me like some creep, but by _choice_. Think about that, will you?" Caroline gives his hand one last squeeze before leaning back in her incredibly plush seat and closes her eyes.

Without lifting her eyelids, her smile widens at the feel of lips brushing against the inside of her wrist and she hears the faintest whisper that would have been lost to human ears.

"Thank you."

. . .

"Well, well, well, seems like the cat dragged in a little blonde ass."

"I knew I should've worn jeans instead of yoga pants," Caroline groans as she releases Stefan from their intense hug (literally; she tackled and locked herself onto him tightly like a koala on a branch for five long minutes, swaying their bodies side to side) and holds the man at arm's length.

"Hi bestfriend." She's giving him her most radiant smile, pearly teeth and all. The burning sensation of a particular someone's glare goes ignored.

Stefan is giving her one of his smiles that she's sure he reserves only for her, "Hello, Caroline."

Her lips form a pout, "That's all I get?"

"I've missed you." He adds, but then corrects himself when the woman jabs a finger in his ribs. "I've missed you, _bestfriend_."

"Much better. And I've missed you too, especially your broody face- oh wait! That's just your average, daily face."

"Ha, ha, very funny. Did you forget to mention that you've become a comedian over the year?"

Caroline winks, "I might've." She spins to face the older Salvatore and slips on a disapproving look. "Whiskey for brunch, Damon? Such class, you have."

"Never asked for your input, Yoda."

"Still an ass-wipe as always," she states and crosses her arms over chest.

"Still judgy as ever, I see."

"You're wrong. That's Bonnie, remember?" Caroline says with a smirk.

Damon actually laughs out loud at their little inside joke. He raises his glass in cheers before taking a sip, his eyes trained on hers and she smiles bigger at the small glimpse of fondness. It's nice to know that even Damon is glad to see her again.

"Well, now that that's over and the room is filled with so much sentiment that it's become nauseating, why don't you take our things up to our room?"

There's a moment of silence when Damon doesn't realize that three sets of eyes are staring at him. When he finally notices he does his crazy-eyes thing.

"You talking to me, old man?"

Klaus' smirk stretches.

"Nuh uh. I am not your lackey. Why don't you have one of your hybrid goons to do it for you? Oh! Silly me, it slipped my mind. I forgot that you're so whipped that little Caroline made you clear out the last of your flunkeys."

"Hey! I am not little!"

Klaus takes a menacing step towards the dark haired man. "You dare mock me? With a flick of my pinky I could-"

"Wow! I am beat," Caroline interrupts with an exaggerated yawn. "We'll be in our room to rest and freshen up a bit." She picks up Klaus' suitcase (the one adorning pink Hello Kitty stickers all over) and shoves it at him while she moves to grab hers. Caroline pushes the still fuming Original towards the stairs and wiggles her fingers over her shoulder.

"Catch you guys later."

Damon waves a pinky at the pair, "Toodles!" Then when the couple reaches the top of the stairs he makes a whipping-sound with his mouth. His eyes gleam in triumph when Klaus whirls his head back to glare stakes at him, but is pushed again to keep walking by the petite blonde.

Well, the next couple of days are sure going to be interesting.

. . .

"Klaus? Klaus! … KLAUS!"

"Caroline, I'm right here."

The woman looks up for only a second to stare at said man before retuning to frantically fumble through her make-up bag. "Then why didn't you answer when I called you?"

Klaus sighs as he leans against the bathroom doorframe. "I thought with you being a vampire and all that you would acknowledge my presence standing only two feet away."

"Can it with the sarcasm, Mikaelson... Have you seen my damn mascara?" Caroline cries with a stomp of her foot.

"Am I supposed to know what that is?"

"Don't play dumb with me! You've been around long enough to know exactly what it is. Now is not the time to act like some manly man that is utterly clueless about make-up!"

She's right. He knew exactly what she was looking for, and almost all other basic make-up products. Klaus cringes at the memory. He still can't believe she made him sit and listen to her give a lesson on the functions of each make-up accessory and then tested him on it, all the while babbling about how the perfect boyfriend should be knowledgeable about these essential things.

Essential his ass.

Klaus appreciatively eyes the blonde up and down while she continues to search for her orange LashBlast wearing only a black lace bra and matching panties. He's broken out of his trance when Caroline gives a frustrated snarl and holds her make-up bag in the air upside down, letting all of the contents clatter on the sink counter.

"Is that really necessary?" Klaus asks.

"Hush you," she demands. "Unless you want your date to look like Medusa on ten years of crack, I suggest you stop ogling and help me find my- FOUND IT!" The poor man's ears ring from the squeal of victory. Shaking her hips side to side to some song that plays in her head, Caroline places a kiss on the orange tube then twists it open and begins applying it to her eyelashes. She purrs when she feels a pair of arms wound across her waist.

"You could never look any less than ravishing, love," Klaus comments with a kiss to her shoulder. He's looking at her through the mirror and Caroline swears it's like he's sexing her up with his eyes.

"No more naughty time, mister. We're supposed to be leaving in T-minus two hours and I haven't even done my hair yet." Her words die on her tongue at the feel of his fingers caressing circles around her navel. "Klaus…" she hums.

He nips at her lobe and murmurs in her ear, "It doesn't sound like you want me to stop, sweet Caroline." His hands rest on her pelvic bone and he pulls her flush against his body, leaving no room in between. Klaus kisses a trail up her neck and Caroline automatically tilts her head without a thought. She lifts one arm and runs her fingers through the short, curly hair on his nape. He growls when she gives a particularly hard tug and in return he grinds his growing hardness into her lower back. A low moan spills from Caroline's pink lips and she arches into the hard chest behind her. No matter how many times they've participated in sexual activities, Klaus could never tire of the raw music that comes from the beautiful creature before him. She could be such a vixen. Blood rushes towards his nether region and he grows immensely frustrated by the second. He spins Caroline so that their noses are brushing and their hips press firmly against one another. Her arms circle around his neck and his hands are on her ribs, but slowly they make their way down leaving a burning path to follow. Klaus stares intently into the beauty's darkening cobalt eyes as his hands finally reach their destination and he leisurely dips his fingers beneath the fabric of her panties. Caroline's mouth opens letting out a gasp in heated anticipation.

"Blondie! You better be taking this time to get ready and _not_ be doing the nasty on furniture that should not have the nasty done upon!" The voice stops and they hear shuffling from the hall on the other side of the locked bedroom door. Caroline jumps a foot in the air when there's a heavy bang followed by a pained "_Oof!_"

"Stop being stupid," a voice that sounds like Elena whispers harshly. "Sorry about that, Care!" she calls out louder. "Don't mind us. Just keep doing… Er- whatever it was you were doing, and we'll see you in a few hours!"

An obnoxious snort sounds through the room. "I better not find bodily fluids on and _slash_ or near those wooden drawers!"

"Damon! Seriously?" Elena groans.

"What? They're made of Brazilian Rosewood, and let me tell you, that shit ain't cheap."

Eyes crazed like a rabid dog, Klaus moves to leave the bathroom with every intention to toss Damon around like a rag doll. He's basically foaming at the mouth, but a small hand stops him. "He's right," Caroline says.

His eyebrows rise to his hairline. Excuse him? Did she just agree with Damon Salvatore? And about stopping their sexy time that would have ended with ultimate euphoria? The apocalypse must be nearing.

If anything, Klaus is offended. Caroline Forbes, little miss sex kitten, just denied him. Him. She rejected him and his pleasuring ways. He doesn't say anything, just settles for a small pout with his fingers dancing across the sides of her thighs.

"I'm not declining sex because I want to, but Damon has a point," Caroline giggles at his childish expression. "We have less than two hours to be ready for tonight and I'm far behind on schedule.

"You already look beautiful as you are now."

"Oh, whatever!" she beams. "Stop trying to woo me with your suave words."

"Is it working?" Klaus rumbles against the thin skin of her throat.

"No! … Maybe just a little. " She feels him smirk and pries his arms off of her, taking a step back. "Just get outta here you cheeseball! You're distracting."

"Ah, how the tables have turned, no?" he dimples.

With a roll of her eyes, Caroline grabs his shoulders and forcibly turns his body towards the exit of the bathroom. She pushes him forward, Klaus doesn't even stumble much to her dismay, and smacks his bum. "Not funny. Out!" He obeys her orders and strolls out of the bedroom, but not before throwing her a wink over his shoulder.

. . .

"A toast to tonight! A night that we will all surely not remember by morning, or even in a few hours for some of the more lightweights, whom shall not be named. Ahem, Rebekah."

"Dagger yourself, Kol."

"Why? When I can have our own dear brother do it for me? And by the look he's giving me now, he just might do it in front of you lot."

"Can you just hurry up your little 'epic wolf-pack' monologue? You're putting everyone to sleep. Even your girlfriend isn't paying attention to you!"

"Bonnie. Who are you texting, my sweet?"

"Hm? Oh, just sending the address of the club to Tyler, Matt, and Jeremy. Apparently getting in another round of Call of Duty is more important than coming to my birthday dinner, so they'll just meet up with us at the place after."

"Sorry, Bon. My brother still acts like he's twelve sometimes."

"Aren't you glad you dropped that sap for an Original? The most dashing one at that! Anyways, back to my speech. Tonight-"

"I'm going to need more than one shot if he continues."

"Caroline, my dear, please do not get your knickers in a bunch. Unless, that is my brother doesn't already posses them in his pocket from your earlier romping."

"I thought I told you not to engage in sexual activities on my expensive furniture."

"Caroline, I use that room as my study sometimes."

"You mean you use it as your brooding sanctuary."

"Oh shut up, Salvatore 'one' and 'two'."

"What a feisty little blonde thing you are! I can see why my brother takes a liking to you. Tell me, Nik, is she this frisky behind closed bedroom doors?"

"Are you sure you want to spend tonight sleeping off a broken neck, _brother_?"

"First death threat of the night! Who is willing to keep score?"

"Damon, be a sweetie and pass me another shot."

"I'm right with you, Forbes. Here."

"I hope a petite lady like you can keep her liquor down. Let's try not to be the sloppy blonde tonight, hm?"

"I suggest that if you don't want to be b-slapped across the room, you should shut your trap."

"It depends. Will you be the bitch doing the slapping?"

"_Kol_!"

"You vexatious cretin. I warned you, but it seems that you really would like to enjoy tonight with a crushed vertebrae. How about I tear out your liver as well while I'm at it?"

"Easy there! I was only joking. No need to bare the fangs."

"Guys. Can we please stop acting like two year olds and take this damn shot? My arm is tired from holding it up, and I'm getting hungry."

"The birthday girl is right."

"To Bonnie!"

"To Bonnie!" they all chorused.

"To birthday sex!"

"Shut up, Kol."

. . .

"I suggest if you'd like to keep your limbs intact, you would do well to remove your paw off of me." Rebekah pointedly looks to the offending man's hand resting on her knee. The blonde fellow angrily grunts at the woman's rejection and treads to the opposite side of the bar.

"Meow. Someone let the pussycat out to play tonight," Caroline comments as she takes a sip of her cranberry and vodka and leans back on the counter.

"She just didn't want her boyfriend to see is all," teases Elena. The brunette winks at the Mikaelson sibling from her seat on the stool to Caroline's right.

"What? When did you and Stefan become official?" exclaims the younger blonde female over the pulsing music.

Rebekah smacks her on the elbow. "Can you be any louder? My god, that trap of yours, and we're not official."

Caroline sends her a glare and rubs her sore skin. She knew Rebekah didn't mean any harm behind her light smack, but the girl is still _really_ old. She's got some hefty strength in her.

"Not yet," Elena adds.

Rebekah shrugs as she takes a sip of her own alcoholic drink, an apple martini. "We've only been on a few dates here and there."

"And you're okay with this?" Caroline turns to ask the Gilbert girl hesitantly. She cautiously gazes at the women to her left and right. Her body slightly tenses in preparation to separate a cat fight. This could get ugly.

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm with Damon, and things have been going pretty steady. He's still a complete ass, but he wouldn't be Damon if he wasn't."

"But you still love Stefan," Rebekah states. There was no hint of a question in her tone.

Elena casts her eyes downward. "Yes. I don't think I'll ever stop loving him, but you can be sure that though I love him, I'm not _in_ lov-"

"Yeah, yeah," the Mikaelson woman interrupts with a wave of her hand. "But you're not in love with him- I get it. Just be sure to remember those words of yours before you decide to swap sides again for the millionth time." She gives Elena a stern look causing the other to shrink a bit in her seat.

"Crystal clear."

There's a moment of tense silence between the three females occupying a spot at the overly crowded bar. The pounding music blaring a song by Calvin Harris reverberates through the entire club.

"Well this shit just got awkward. Hey, bartender! Hey dude I'm talking to you!" But Caroline's efforts go to waste when a brunette with breasts the size of cantaloupes catches the attention of the man. "Seriously? I compelled you to make us drinks, not make googly eyes at some big honkers! Do your job you-"

"Oh my god."

"What?" Caroline whips her head to look at Elena at the sound of her gasp. She doesn't even spare her a glance. Worried, the blonde follows her friend's line of vision and her own eyes widen a bit at the sight.

Bonnie, the conservative-always-so-serious-sweater-wearing girl, somehow climbed onto the table of the VIP booth that Kol reserved for the night's occasion and was currently dancing atop of it. How is that even possible when she's wearing a skin-tight dress and six inch Christian Louboutin platforms? A birthday gift from her vampire beau, of course. Kol may be an obnoxious dick, but he cares for Bonnie, and vice versa. It doesn't really hurt that he has money either. Apparently when there's a lot of alcohol in the system, anything is possible. The cocoa-skinned female moves her hips side to side to the music with her arms extending above her head and eyes closed. Though her movements aren't sloppy, it is pretty clear that Bonnie is to the point of being completely hammered. Maybe even beyond that.

"I… don't know how to feel about this," stammers Caroline in shock. She always did tell the Bennett girl she needed to loosen up some more. To not take everything so seriously cause life is short- at least it was still short for Bonnie and her nonvampire-self.

Elena moves to stand, "Maybe we should get her down."

"Hold on there. She looks like she's having a blast. Let her be." Rebekah smirks at the scene in almost a proud sort of way as if saying '_that's my girl, I taught her well'_. They watch as Bonnie squeals when a different song comes on and she continues to shake her hips with a whole new vigor, completely lost in a trance. Caroline lowers her eyes to the occupants sitting at their table. Kol is at the end of the half-circle shaped booth with both of his arms resting on the back of the seat and a cheshire grin plastered on his face as he watches his girlfriend dance above him. Towards the middle is Klaus and next to him is Stefan. It's obvious that both men don't know how to react to the situation taking place literally a foot in front of them so they chose the safe route of not staring at the sexy dancing female, but have a conversation amongst themselves.

"Drinking alone tonight?"

She blinks and turns to look at the owner of the question. There's a tall man adorning a grey designer suit standing behind Rebekah with hazel eyes and light brown hair. Caroline thinks he has a strong resemblance to Josh Duhamel and she ponders that if this was a different life, one where she wasn't undead and didn't already have a boyfriend whom is _yes, _incredibly infuriating, but undeniably sexy and English, this man standing before her might have been her 'prince charming'. The one that was supposed to whisk her away and have seven kids running around their white picket fenced home.

But if she's being entirely honest with herself; she would never trade anything for the life she has now, even with all it's jacked up supernatural fuckery.

Rebekah tilts her head back to look at the man standing behind her. "Are you speaking to me?"

He tears his gaze away from Caroline to flick the woman with the accent a glance before steadying his eyes on the younger blonde vampire again. "Actually, no. Sorry."

"Then don't breathe down my neck," Rebekah replies curtly as she stands from her stool, martini in hand. She moves past Caroline- mumbling "dapper twit" under her breath- to lean against the bar counter next to Elena. She looks at the handsome man again before scoffing and downing the rest of her drink in one go. "I need to sit. His face is making me nauseous." Rebekah maneuvers her way through the mass of bodies to plant herself on the booth next to Stefan. Bonnie stops her ministrations to tug on the blonde's hand to pull her up onto the table as well, but Rebekah smacks her hand away. The witch shrugs and begins to dougie to the current song. With a pout, Rebekah turns to Stefan to interrupt his conversation with her brother and begins ranting to him. Stefan's eyes dart to Caroline for a brief second before returning his attention to Rebekah, his lips set in a tight line. Caroline feels another burning gaze, but chooses to ignore it hoping that he'll take the hint that she can handle herself and he doesn't need to be all macho man and interfere.

She has to admit. The stranger is cute. No need to bash in such a pretty face before other ladies could have the opportunity to enjoy it, as well.

"Uh, did I do something wrong?" the man asks confused as he takes the now empty seat in front of him.

Caroline shrugs. "No. She just has a permanent stick up her small ass." She smirks when her vampire hearing picks up a female voice hissing a 'fuck you!' in a British accent through the heavy music.

"Snarky. I like 'em quick and witty."

Apparently that was his way of a compliment and Caroline replies with a short, "Thanks."

"Can I buy you a drink?"

"I already got one, thanks though."

"Let me buy you another one."

"I'm good."

The man chuckles to himself. "I'm sorry, my manners seem to elude me in the presence of a beautiful woman. I'm Mitchel." He sticks out his hand and Caroline lightly shakes it with her own.

"Caroline."

"Such a charming name for an attractive woman. Very classy."

"Thank you. Again."

"You don't need to thank me every time I compliment you because I plan to spend the rest of the night showering you with them."

"Um…" Caroline doesn't know how to respond to the sweet, handsome man beaming her a pearly smile. Like what the hell do you say to that? Part of her wants to stop the poor guy before he's torn to pieces by her fuming partner, and the other part wants him to continue throwing compliments her way so she can boost her ego.

Come on. What girl doesn't want to be fed compliment after compliment by a tall, dark, and handsome man? Uh no one.

"I'm going to buy you another drink." Before Caroline can protest he's already waving down the bartender. "My man! Let me get a Cape Cod for the lady and another scotch on the rocks."

"How did you know what I was drinking?" she asks, genuinely curious.

Mitchel's smile widens a bit at the fact that she's no longer giving him short, clipped answers. "Well," his eyes dart to the remnants of her red drink, "I'm assuming that's not blood you're sipping."

Though she knows he's joking, she can't stop her body from slightly tensing.

"Funny," she mumbles stiffly.

"Your eyes are a gorgeous shade of blue." Caroline remains silent and watches as the bartender places their drinks on the counter. "Thanks man. So, what is a stunning young woman doing sitting all by herself at the bar? Is tonight a party for one?"

"Actually, it's a party of two," Elena pipes from behind Caroline. The blonde totally forgot that her friend was sitting there the entire time.

"Make that a party of three."

Stefan makes his way towards them and Caroline becomes slightly annoyed. She finishes off the rest of her drink and grabs for the new one. She's half way done with it by the time Stefan is standing next to her. "Mmm, sorry. Three's a crowd," she snaps at him. He ignores her snide remark and turns to Elena to gesture back at the table he just came from. "Damon is asking for you."

"Where's Elijah?"

"He left. Said he had some business to attend to."

Elena nods at her two friends before standing to leave the bar. Stefan is giving Caroline her his 'no-nonsense' look and she childishly sticks her tongue out at him in reply.

"Hey man, I'm letting you know now before you get ahead of yourself, but she's with me tonight," Mitchel throws the Salvatore a stern look and raises his arm to place it across Caroline's shoulders, but before it could graze her skin Stefan warns, "It's not a good idea to be touching her, _man_."

Mitchel narrows his eyes at the shorter man and crosses his arms. "I don't have to listen to shit from you. Do you know this guy?" The question is directed to Caroline and she looks to Stefan, remaining silent.

"Seriously?" Stefan says with a hint of exasperation.

"Tell alpha-douche over there that he doesn't need to send in an army. I can most definitely handle myself, thanks."

"So you do know this guy?"

"Mm…"

"Caroline," Stefan warns in that tone of his.

Said blonde rolls her eyes and slams her glass onto the counter. "Ugh, you guys suck the fun out of everything!" She gives Mitchel a small smile, "You're really nice and a very handsome fellow, but I'm not interested." She loops her arm around the elbow Stefan extends to her as he helps move them through the crowd. They're in the middle of the mass of dancing, sweaty bodies when he yells into her ear so she can hear him, "Klaus is going to bite your head off for calling that guy 'handsome'."

"Well, he can suck my very nonexistent dick!"

He lets out a genuine laugh at her comment. "You're just digging yourself into a massive hole tonight, aren't you? You know he can hear you."

Caroline shrugs nonchalantly. They reach the table and the woman ignores the burning sensation of being glared at, most likely from a very pissed off hybrid. She's about to take a seat next to Elena when she feels a small hand latch onto her elbow and tug upwards. "Caroline! Come dance with me, my ray of yellow sunshine!" Bonnie is staring down at her from her position on top of the table with shiny, clouded eager eyes. The blonde opens her mouth to reject the offer, but then her friend pulls out the big guns- the puppy pout.

Ugh. So below the belt.

"Pretty please, with a stripper on top?"

All conversation comes to a halt around the table. Caroline's mouth opens to form a small 'o' and her eyes widen as she stares at the still pleading brown orbs. "Come on, Caroline! We can dance like one of those male strippers you took Elena and I to go see. Remember? Like the one who tried to motorboat my boo-"

"Okay!" Caroline basically shouts in attempt to cover up the words spilling from her friend's mouth. Kol's eyes narrow menacingly at her as a low growl escapes his throat for being kept in the dark about his girl's little adventure with nude male specimens. She internally groans at the thought of the pending trouble she's about to get into and makes a mental note to help Bonnie control her mouth filter the next time she's drunk. "I think you've had your fill of dancing. Time to get down now, honey." She places her hands on either side of Bonnie's waist and with a little strength thanks to her vampirism, she lifts the girl off the table and plops her onto the leather couch next to a gaping Elena.

There's an awkward silence surrounding the table in the midst of the packed club. Caroline realizes that she's the only one still standing and that all stares are on her. She casts her eyes downward and gingerly shifts to sit next to the swaying woman as if moving cautiously would prevent the massacre that's bound to occur any moment now. She's about to be in some deep shit.

There's a beat of silence during which Caroline holds onto the briefest hope that maybe the topic will just be brushed aside and that the three angry men would blame the alcohol for Bonnie's delusional slip up, but all that comes to a crash when three angry voices exclaim at once.

"You did _what_?"

"You took her _where_?"

"Blondie, what the _fuck_?"

In response, Caroline rests her elbows on the table and covers her eyes with her fingers as she shakes her head side to side. "Thanks for outing me, Bon," she mumbles under her breath and concentrates on the comforting hand softly rubbing her back whom she assumes belongs to Elena since her other friend is on the brink of passing out from her spot between them.

The now sleepy woman perks up at the mention of her name and turns her heavy eyes towards her left. "Hmm? What did I do?"

Elena takes a look at her vampire friend and senses her distress. "Hey Bonnie," she calls distractedly, "Come here. Just lay your head on me for a little bit, 'kay? Until you feel better." The witch lights up at the request and happily snuggles into Elena's side and sighs contentedly as her eyes droop to a close, completely unaware that she just threw Caroline into the lions' den with her comment.

Caroline remains quiet, not daring to utter a peep to fuel the already growing anger of two Originals and a Salvatore. She flicks her eyes to the younger Salvatore brother to give him an imploring look to help bail her out. Damon catches the interaction and cuts in. "You knew about this?" he asks sharply and does his crazy eyes thing.

"She told me the morning after," Stefan shrugs. "I told her it wasn't a good idea."

"And it didn't occur to you to tell me about it?"

"No use in crying over spilled milk," he answers coolly.

"You took my girlfriend to go watch naked men dangle their filthy, sweaty body parts for entertainment? And you let them put their grimy hands all over her?"

She can nearly imagine smoke billowing from Kol's ears from how furious he is and she knows not to provoke him when he's a second away from flipping the table and gnawing off her head- but Caroline can't help but poke the lion and say, "Ew. Did you really have to say _'dangle'_?" A yelp escapes her lips when she sees him lift a fist into the air and is about to smash it down against the heavy table like fucking _Thor_ and his hammer or something when a quick hand stops him.

Klaus releases his younger brother's wrist just as swiftly as he grabbed it and seethes through gritted teeth, "Let's not make a scene."

"Me?" Kol looks like he's about to fall off of his seat from shock. "You're scolding _me _when it is _your _companion that had the brilliant idea of taking our girlfriends to a dirty establishment filled with overly muscular men parading around in their fucking _birthday suit_?" His arms flailed wildly as he gestured from himself, to Caroline, then to Bonnie and Elena before coming back to rest at his sides.

"Quit with the theatrics."

"Yeah, Kol," Rebekah chimes in from her spot nestled next to a quiet Stefan. "And you say that I'mthe dramatic one."

"There's a reason behind why no one asked for your two cents, dear sister. It's because no one here cares."

The blonde Mikaelson childishly sticks out her tongue at Kol with a sneer. The two siblings are caught in a glaring competition that is becoming too much in the already tense air of the stuffy club. Stefan pats the top of Rebekah's head and if it were anyone else, she would have torn off the limb within an instant, but since it's Stefan and she knows that he's just trying to calm her down, she lets it go and sits back into the seat with a huff.

"I thought I'd never see the day when the beast became tamed," Kol announces, making sure to intone some sarcastic awe in his words. "Kudos to you, Stefan."

"Oh, do shut up!" Rebekah snaps.

"Shh, shh…" Bonnie stirs from her lax position against Elena and slowly opens her eyes to glare at her loud friends that are interrupting her slumber. "What's with all the yelling, guys? It's quiet time."

Someone snorts, "You're in the wrong place if you want some damn quiet time, witch."

At this moment, Matt, Jeremy, and Tyler finally decide to appear after they left to scope the place for some 'hot chicks'. The two latter are sporting identical looks of disappointment and humiliation while Matt has a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"What seems to be the cause of your sour expressions, boys?" Rebekah calls from her seat, directing her question towards the two pouting friends. Jeremy opens his mouth to evade the question and brush off the topic when Matt decides to excitedly interject with a wide smile.

"They're pissed because the girls they were hounding on dissed them and asked for my number instead." He unconsciously puffs out his chest in pride that he- Matt Donovan; small town human boy and waiter- scored with two very attractive women.

"Girls?"

"Twins," he answers, his toothy grin almost splitting his face in two.

"Well, look at that," Damon smirks and smoothly slides a filled shot glass towards the human. Matt is glowing in his spot from all of the appraisal and Caroline shines a smile of her own because she always thought that if anyone deserved happiness and a chance at a normal life with a huge family and a golden retriever- it's Matt. He never deserved getting sucked into this vicious cycle of supernatural beings, but if she's being selfish, she's appreciative that he decided to stick with them through it all, that he didn't just pack up and leave Mystic Falls without a second glance.

Jeremy playfully pushes at Caroline's shoulder so that she'd scoot over and he sits while mumbling, "Whatever," under his breath. She could feel the heated glare on her face spike when the Gilbert boy's hand made contact with the bare skin of her creamy shoulders and she makes sure to obnoxiously roll her eyes because, really, Jeremy is cute and all but he's like her little brother. Just no. Gross. Tyler opts to lean against the side of the booth with his arms crossed and his brown eyes occasionally reverting back to the crowd for more scoping. As an ex-girlfriend, Caroline feels like she should feel offended that he's so openly checking out other girls right in front of her face, but she honestly feels nothing. She's not surprised though because of everything that went down between them; they had their cold-shoulder phase, and months later they got over it. Of course, things between them could never be exactly the same again, but that's to be expected when she's dating the man who radically changed his life. But hey, she's not the only crappy one when he's currently on and off again canoodling with the brunette she-wolf that he denied ever having feelings for.

The blonde feels the thin skin of her neck prickle from the intent staring of another person. Caroline looks up to see that the only other blonde female is glaring at her with furrowed brows from across the table.

"What?"

"Where was I when you all went?" Rebekah pouts.

Caroline tilts her head in confusion from the question. "Where? The strip club?" She ignores the disgusted grunt that comes from Damon and the, "I can't believe you, Blondie. Where are your morals?"

The Original remains silent and her only response is the pink that paints her cheeks from regret of ever asking. "Don't mind her," Kol advises from his seat. "She's just sulking that she didn't get invited to your little girl gang's trip. Our sister is a harlot." Rebekah is about to smash her shot glass into her brother's grinning face when Bonnie loudly burps, causing all eyes to fall upon the tan-skinned girl slowly swaying side to side with the music.

"Excuse me," she slurs and then chuckles. She looks like she's going to once again take a nap when her eyes suddenly widens with a twinkling excitement. "Oh my God, guys! We're all here! Well, except for Elijah, but he's probably not coming back because he's probably having hot, wet sex with Katherine right now- so, whatever."

"_Bonnie!_" Elena screeches, her face burning red with embarrassment.

The witch continues without a pause. "We haven't taken a group picture all night! How _lame, _is that? And since we're all not some lame-ohs," she purses her red lips to emphasize the 'ohs', "-let's take some pictures! Come on, y'all. Gather around!" Bonnie waits for her friends to begin scooting closer to one another, but no one moves a muscle and stares at her with blank looks. "Now," she growls. Not wanting to piss off the powerful Bennett witch, especially on her birthday of all days, everyone begins moving towards one another on the booth with Damon and Rebekah groaning and Kol proudly cooing, "That's my girl," from his spot across from her. Bonnie throws a coy wink from her seat and Rebekah makes a gagging gesture.

Bonnie waits for one of the club's employees to walk by before yelling out, "Hey you! Be useful and take a picture of our magnificent faces! It's _my _birthday." The poor guy barely has time to register that he's being screamed at by a wasted girl when she chucks her digital camera at his face. Luckily, he's quick enough to catch it before it makes contact and Caroline makes a note to leave a decent tip for the man. He patiently waits for everyone at the large VIP table to get situated and counts to three before clicking the button, causing a bright flash at the smiling faces. "Thank you, my kind sir," Bonnie says as she takes the camera back and watches as the man scurries away from the table of odd people.

"See, that wasn't so bad, right guys?"

"Says you," Stefan announces. "I think I've been blinded by that flash."

"Cry me a river, Steffy-poo," Bonnie doesn't see the way Rebekah turns to give said man an eyebrow raise at the chosen nickname she gave her friend and instead decides to crawl towards Caroline. She pins the blonde down with her butt as she sits on top of her friend's lap within seconds, never giving Caroline a chance to protest. "Caroline! Let's take a picture." From her position on the vampire's lap, Bonnie's head is a few inches higher than the other girl, resulting in the side of Caroline's head being smooshed against her breasts as the drunk girl tightly presses her blonde head there so she can't move. Instead of getting all shy and pushing her away, Caroline laughs loudly and wraps her arms around the petite woman's waist and they both smile seductively at the camera before it flashes. Bonnie squeals delightfully that finally someone is letting loose and being fun just like she is and lifts her arm to take another photo as she closes her eyes and places a kiss to Caroline's cheek. Just as the image is taken and saved onto the electronic device, a group of girls in short dresses and sky-high heels strut by. Because of Caroline's vampire hearing, she catches the, "Whores," that one of the girls sneers at her and Bonnie's position. What she didn't expect was that the witch heard it, too.

"What'd you just say, you harlot?" Bonnie shouts back. She starts to climb off of Caroline's lap, but the blonde holds her still with her arms.

"Harlot? Someone's been rubbing off on her," Tyler muses out loud, directing towards how Kol said the same word earlier.

"Did I stutter?" The tall girl mocks and places her hands on her hips in attempt to look intimidating, probably trying to impress the number of very handsome men watching the interaction. Caroline mentally scoffs. As if the chick had a chance with any of her friends. They're so out of her league.

"The fuck?" Bonnie barks at the leer and snatches the water bottle that Elijah ordered for himself but left behind. Before anyone could make a move to stop her, the hammered girl launches the bottle at the smirking woman and her group of friends. But what no one predicts is that when the plastic object makes contact with the insulting woman's forehead that the bottle's cap was never actually screwed shut and its contents showers the shrieking girl.

"You slutty _bitch_!" She howls at now being drenched from head to toe and in the next instant she feels a shift in the air and looks up to meet the glowing eyes of an attractive man.

"It'd be wise, dearie, to choose your words carefully when speaking to her," Kol admonishes with a light tone, but the fire in his eyes portrays just how furious he really is. He knows that his brother will wring his neck if he were to break the girl's spine in front of all these human witnesses, and usually he would tell them to all fuck off, but the true reason as to why he clasps his hands behind his back to prevent making any rash decisions is because he doesn't want to ruin his woman's night. Being with the Bennett girl has caused him to become slightly sentimental, though he'd never admit it aloud.

He hears his brother call his name in warning, but keeps his eyes on the stunned girl in front of him. One of the girl's friends nudges her in the ribs to break her out of her stupor, and she shakes her soaked head before giving Kol a sultry look. "Well, hello handsome," she chitters obnoxiously. She gathers enough courage- or stupidity, depending on how one looks at it- to brush her hand on the Mikaelson's neck. He's quick to lean back to avoid the offending limb, but winces when Bonnie let's out a viscous roar, like an actual _roar _as if she's Simba from the fucking _Lion King_, and tears herself from Caroline's grasp. She stumbles toward the hussy with the smeared makeup with her index finger waving wildly in the air. "Listen here, you wet _cow. _You fucking touch a hair on his delicious body one more time, and I'll pull out those so obviously horrendous extensions from your big ol' head-"

Kol snakes his arms around the teetering girl's stomach to hold her back from her coming onslaught on the human when a big burly man appears and steps between the two parties. "Hey, man, your girl is making a scene so I'm going to have to ask her to leave."

"What? Hell no!" comes Bonnie's cry of defiance. "It's my _birthday_," she repeats as if that phrase is the magic solution to every problem occurring that night.

The beefy man in the tight black shirt sighs from the long night of work and shrugs. "Rules are rules, ma'am."

"Well, you can take those rules and shove it up your floppy a-!"

"Whoa! Okay there, Bonnie," Jeremy disrupts as he stands from his seat. "No need to insult the man. He's just doing his job."

"But Jeremy!" Bonnie cries with sad eyes and then says softly, "It's my birthday."

"Yeah, I think the whole place got that, Bonnie- Ow!" Tyler lowers his head to glare at the blonde that jabbed him in the stomach, but Caroline ignores him and sits there innocently.

Elena looks to all her friends both sitting and standing and gestures with a tilt of her head for them to get up. "Sweetie," she calls gently so that her friend won't either burst out crying or cause another commotion. "It's fine. I think it's time for us to leave, anyway."

The witch looks like she's about to open the flood gates and start sobbing right smack in the middle of the club. "But Elena-"

"'-it's my birthday,'" Tyler finishes for her with a sigh. This time Caroline isn't discreet about her actions and outright shoves the hybrid.

"_Seriously_, Tyler?" she berates, feeling irate. She hands Elena her clutch from the table as she grabs for hers and stands, pulling down on the hem of her dress to make sure she doesn't moon anyone. She clears her throat, her blue eyes demanding her friends to follow her lead. Caroline links her arm with Elena and holds out her free elbow for Bonnie to take, which she does while giggling, her previous sullen mood for being kicked out forgotten. The birthday girl spins to glare at the bouncer and the group of floozies that are staring in awe at just how attractive all the men are in the crowd of friends and announces theatrically to anyone listening, "I don't want to be here, anyway. We're out of this popsicle stand. Deuces!" With that, Bonnie throws up a peace sign as she and her two best friends strut out of the club, arms linked, and her other friends follow, filing out of the cramped place.

. . .

It's two-something in the morning as Bonnie and her ten friends (and sort-of-semi-friends) roam the empty streets, already blocks away from the pulsing club. The night air is crisp and raises goosebumps on the skin of those who are not the undead or werewolf. However, the witch is warm as the jacket that her boyfriend draped across her shoulders envelops her and she inhales his scent with a content grin. Her arms are still linked with her two best girl friends', but they switched positions so that now she's in the middle between the others; Caroline on her right and Elena on the left. The actual notion behind why Bonnie took the spot in the middle is that the two vampire girls decided it was best to hold up the witch after she almost face planted into the concrete sidewalk when her wobbly legs chose to give out.

"What are you cheesing about, Miss Bennett?" Caroline teases with a smile of her own.

"What are you talking about?" She harmlessly asks and puckers her lips to try to rid the goofy grin on her face, but she stops when she hears the two girls laugh at her silly expression.

"Let her be, Caroline," Elena croons from her side. "She's a smitten kitten."

Bonnie gives a snort and denies, "I am not." Not a moment later does she begin to hum _my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard_.

Caroline turns her head to look back at her following friends. Bonnie, Elena, and herself are at the front, leading the group to- absolutely no destination in particular. She's not going to announce that to the people though. Tyler and Jeremy are following closely behind as they shove at each other, laughing, and telling crude jokes. Behind them are Stefan, with Rebekah on his arm, and Matt and Damon as the human man regales in telling the story of how the twin girls were totally all over him and completely pushed passed his two idiot friends, earning him the finger held behind their back from both men.

And at the end of the herd of supernatural fuckery magnets are the two Mikaelson brothers, trailing slowly in all their cool suaveness as they talk in hushed voices. Klaus catches Caroline's eyes and an emotion flickers through them, too quick for her to decipher what it is before it's gone. She hasn't spoke to him all night ever since she went back to the table with Stefan. She's not necessarily avoiding him, it just turns out that she hasn't had the chance to, or desire. After the high of the alcohol in her system died down, she's lost some of that liquid courage and isn't really looking forward to what he has to say about her actions with that handsome stranger back at the club. Even though she didn't do anything wrong, but Klaus has the tendency to be quite scary at times. Or all the time. Whatever.

In this moment, Caroline experiences genuine happiness as she looks at all of the faces of the people that have come to shape her as a person and are still around through the good and bad times. Sometimes, there's more bad than good, but the fact of the matter is is that they've all stuck together through it all. These are her people; her friends.

"Elena," she calls. She waits for the brunette to turn her attention towards her, then continues, "I love you."

The Gilbert gives her a shining smile, pearly teeth and all, and replies, "I love you too, Care." No other words need to be exchanged. But their moment is affectively ruined when Rebekah once again gags loudly at the nauseating sentiment and Jeremy belches from behind them.

"I'm hungry again," Bonnie whines, then giggles like a child when she hiccups. "Oh, oh! There's a taco place! Either it sells tacos or it's a really cheap strip club with an awful name… Like Kol's. Honestly, what kind of name is _Kol_?"

"A highly revered name, thank you very much."

"Shit!" Caroline gasps, clutching at her chest, startled at the sudden voice of the man walking close behind them. "Could you be any creepier?"

"I could."

"Well can you take a moment to halt your creepiness and open the door like the _revered_ man that you so claim to be?"

Kol's grin only grew larger as he reached for the door and held it open, gesturing with his free hand for them to enter. Bonnie throws him a saucy smile as she pulls Elena threw the door. When Caroline steps to enter after them, Kol releases the handle letting the door collide into the side of her body. "Motherfucker!" she snarls.

. . .

"_Ugh._ I think I'm gonna be sick. Why'd you guys take me here? Some friends you are…"

"I told you to go easy, but did you listen to me, Bon? No. So I let you cram three tacos into your mouth like some squirrel on a mission before winter."

"Like I said, some friend you are. Elena? Elena!"

"I'm sitting right here, Bonnie."

"I need your comfy lap for my spinning head since I think my boyfriend has turned to the gay side and left me for three other men."

"The boys are just playing pinball."

"Yeah. Pinball. Which includes heavy _balls _banging around everywhere… My boyfriend left me for men on my birthday, _and _the room won't stop moving. Are we on a boat?"

"Sh, shh. Just put your head back on my lap until you feel better, okay?"

"Oh sweet, sweet Elena. You are a magical soul. Unlike that blonde one over there."

"Hey! Another peep from you missy and I'll stick this churro up your a-"

"Caroline."

"Love."

"God, you two need to get off my back and stuff it! Where's my horchata! And tequila!"

. . .

"You're drunk."

"Am not. _You're _drunk."

"When you're drunk you tend to deny being drunk."

"It's five in the morning and my brain cannot process the nonsense coming out of your mouth right now, Salvatore. So, hush up and take off your clothes."

"Demanding, are we?"

Caroline smacks away the finger prodding at her rib. "Just do it already will you?" The man throws his arms up in surrender and begins to slowly unbutton his dress shirt, laughing when the blonde impatiently taps her foot and gestures toward her imaginary watch.

"I don't need help changing, _mom._"

Caroline rolls her eyes. "You should feel lucky that I even care enough to make sure you get into bed safe and sound without drowning in your own vomit."

"I don't know if you were there tonight, but I recall you taking four more shots than I did and I took plenty." Stefan stands there shirtless with eyes that beg her to differ and holds out his shirt. Usually, he would just toss the article to the ground without a care, but knowing Caroline she would go at his throat for wrinkling the Hermès gift she randomly got him the last time she visited just because she missed him. Caroline moves to take the piece of clothing and turns to hang it up.

When she swivels back her eyes take in a nearly nude vampire. A nearly nude _man. _Her man-friend standing in only his navy blue- almost black in the dim lighting of his bedroom- boxer briefs. "Stefan Salvatore. If I didn't know any better, I would think that you are trying to seduce me."

"You're the one who demanded me to quickly take off my clothes."

"Yada yada…" The witty remark dies on her tongue when Stefan reaches up to scratch the back of his head and the twitching of his muscles captivates her gaze. His _ahem _breaks her trance and she raises her eyes to catch his knowing smirk.

"Oh, shove it! Plus, it's not like it's anything I haven't seen before." Caroline throws a toothy grin of her own while her eyes pin him with a feisty stare.

Stefan lets out a groan as he pulls back his covers and adjusts his pillows. "You're never going to let me live that one down, huh?"

"Nope," she chirps. "How could I ever erase the memory of you calling me at three in the morning to come over and I find you lounging in a bubble bath, drowning your broodiness in booze and _literally _almost drowning yourself in _my _cherry blossom scented bubbles? It's practically burned into my memory." Caroline laughs and catches the pillow the younger Salvatore chucks at her.

"You shouldn't have left your bubbles in my bathroom," Stefan retorts, but chuckles at himself when he realizes how silly that reply is. He's lying in the center of his bed with the covers haphazardly across his waist. "So, are you going to tuck me in for old time's sake or stand there gawking at my physique?"

She tosses the pillow in her hand back at the grinning man and sits on the mattress by his side. "For a moment there I thought Damon was speaking, you annoying specimen." She grabs for the thick grey covers and pulls it up towards his neck, forcibly tucking it in tightly, and if Stefan was anything but immortal he would be strangled by her ministrations. "All nice and cozy," Caroline grits through her beaming smile. Once done, she retracts her hands to place them in her lap when one of Stefan's arms shoots out from under the covers and grabs onto her wrist.

He's quite fast for being drunk and all, Caroline thinks. The grip on her wrist is tight, but not enough to bring forth pain. Stefan is staring at her with an intensity in his eyes that she's usually familiar with whenever they have one of their 'moments', as Damon labeled it.

"Hi, Mr. Tuesday," she breathes. His serious expression cracks and the grip turns into a soothing caress of his thumb against the thin skin where her pulse should be, if she were still alive and all that jazz.

"I've missed you."

"I'm right here, Stef." And to prove her point, Caroline uses her unoccupied hand to brush back his hair from his face even though there weren't any strays to begin with.

"I _miss_ you."

Her heart experiences a feeling between a crack and a swelling at his words because she _gets _it. She one hundred and ten percent understands what he's saying because she's felt- feels- it, too, and she wants to cry and laugh at the same time because this is why they are best friends. And sometimes when it's quiet and she's alone because Klaus went out to fetch groceries or handle some 'business', she lets her mind wander, and sometimes it wanders toward the man lying beneath her.

She thinks of him as she's thousands of miles away on another continent and wonders what would life be like if she hadn't been whisked away to travel the world and fell madly, deeply, in love with another man- what it would be like if she stayed with Stefan Salvatore and forever be held in his secure arms, her second safest sanctuary.

Then her thoughts are usually abruptly interrupted by her_ safest_ sanctuary wrapping around her waist as he whispers sweet nothings in his British tongue. She smiles then because she remembers that Stefan will forever and always be her best friend, no matter how attractive his brooding self can be, and that the man she is exploring and creating phenomenal memories with _is _her _forever and always_.

And that's that.

Caroline wants to cry and laugh at the same time because she knows that the younger Salvatore lets his mind wander the same path as hers has. She's caught him staring, his mind in another world, as she feigns sleep on his lap when they're supposed to be watching a movie while Klaus visits his siblings.

This is why she loves Stefan Salvatore.

And this is why they remain everything, but lovers in a relationship.

Because it's not _their _time. But maybe in another world. Another dimension. It will be.

But here and now, she is eternally grateful that the man next to her will always support her as she experiences life as it should be experienced with the _love_ of her life that is currently waiting downstairs. She wants to cry and laugh at the same time because she doesn't know how she got so lucky to have such two incredible men in her life.

"I miss you more," she confesses.

Stefan smiles. "Always trying to one up me, Forbes." Then he ruffles her hair as she pinches his cheek, and they both laugh at their silliness. Caroline leans over to place a kiss on his nose. "I'll see you in the morning, meaning, I'll actually see you in like three hours."

"Oh, joy."

The blonde blows a raspberry over her shoulder and stops when she reaches the door. "Goodnight. Love you," she whispers.

"Back at you, sweetheart. Now get out," Stefan mumbles and makes a shooing motion with his hand.

Caroline closes his wooden door with a soft click and lets out an airy breath. She feels lighter now that she's seen her friend. Her foot moves to take a step then pauses when she hears a muffled, "_Thank God. Finally, some peace and quiet now that all that sentimental bullshit is over." _Instead of becoming perturbed, the vampire grins larger and walks with purpose. When she passes by a particular door she makes sure to grab the metal doorknob and give a harsh yank. "Oops," she chirps, then lets the broken metal fall to the floor with a loud bang. Caroline skips down the stairs as she ignores, "_You blonde bitch. You're paying for that and I don't care if your sugar daddy has to cough up the cash for it!"_

. . .

She inhales the cold night, imagining it nipping at the bare skin of her arms, cheeks, nose like she remembers as a human. Her hand pulls the door shut behind her.

"What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same, love."

Caroline rolls her eyes at his raised eyebrows and suspicious blue blue blue eyes. "What do you mean?" she asks, taking the bait.

"You mean I didn't just catch you trying to sneak away and leave me here as you ride into the sunset with your favorite Salvatore?"

"You eavesdropping, punk!" She scoffs and crosses her arms.

Klaus turns to face her fully. A whole eight feet between them from her spot on the porch. He shrugs off her glare. "Should I be concerned that you are asking another man to 'hush up' and quickly take off his clothes?"

"What's it to you? Are you perhaps worried that I was curious to see if he could supply me with something that you're lacking in? I mean, I've been with you for so long that maybe I just got inquisitive…"

Though he did well to control his reaction, she didn't miss the spark of emotion in his orbs before it turned icy blue again. For a thousand-plus years old immortal, the most powerful being roaming the Earth, he sure had a lot of insecurity.

Klaus slowly moves to turn his back to her again and gazes out at the large expanse in front of the boarding house. His only reply to her comment is a casual, "Hm." Caroline knows that _hm _all too well and throws her arms up in exasperation, annoyed that it's five in the fucking morning and her brain cannot function enough to deal with his attitude, but more annoyed at herself for once again letting something stupid come out her mouth.

Did her mouth filter dry up and die somewhere, or what?

"Klaus, you can't be serious right now!" Caroline huffs as she steps forward. A whole five feet in between them.

"Your diva is showing, Caroline," he comments with his back still facing her. He tilts his chin up to gaze at the night sky, dusted with silver specks. This is one of the reasons he appreciates Mystic Falls, no matter how much of a pain it is in his neck. This is a view that many cities are unfortunate enough to lack in due to all of its city lights. He feels a perfectly manicured nail jab at the spot between his shoulder blades.

"_You're _the one being a _diva,_ you pompous _ass!_ Now turn around and look at me while I yell at you some more."

Oh, how could he ever deny her?

The Original obeys the blonde woman and looks down at her with a dimpled smirk, waiting for her to give him an earful for eavesdropping. Caroline stares up at him with furrowed brows and a steely gaze, his chest slightly tightens at her scrutinizing stare searching his face. One pinning look from those cerulean orbs and his whole being becomes utterly still.

She surprises him when her glare softens and becomes a guilty one. "I'm sorry," the blonde angel whispers and he can feel her breath tickle his collarbone. "You should know by now that I don't have a filter when it comes to my mouth and I just constantly word vomit all over your shoes and I don't realize that I say something stupid until it's too late and sometimes I wonder how in the cosmos you put up with me." Caroline says it all in one go and Klaus smiles down at her though she can't see since she's staring at his shoes. He waits patiently as she tries to regain her breathing.

Right when he thinks she's done, Caroline meekly looks at him with pink tinted cheeks.

"But I'm really glad you do. Put up with me, I mean."

The female vampire wraps her pale arms around his waist and pulls him flush against her, nuzzling her nose at the juncture between his neck and shoulder. He chuckles deep in his throat at the feeling of her inhaling him like she does a clean load of laundry right out of the dryer.

A few moments of silence goes by and Klaus stops counting the minutes and just enjoys the feeling of her and her tight embrace. He unconsciously plays with the ends of her blonde strands, wrapping them around his fingers and rubbing the softness between his thumb and forefinger.

"Stop thinking those thoughts that get you all moody and insecure because _yes, _I miss my hometown, _of course _I miss my mom and friends, and _duh _I miss Stefan a ton, but I'm with you, aren't I? Your face is the last thing I see every night and the first when I wake up, unfortunately, with all of your ugliness. Good thing your appearance isn't what I'm with you for, huh?"

Caroline giggles at the scrunch of his nose. "I understand completely now. You're only with me for my immense fortune."

She scoffs and punches his shoulder. Klaus doesn't budge an inch. "I was _going _to say that I'm only with you for the accent. What's with you and Damon thinking that I'm only in it for the money! I don't even begin to come off as a gold digger."

The older vampire throws her a look and replies, "So, does that mean you'll be returning that dress I loaned you for your silly dance?"

"Prom is not silly! And no, I'm keeping it. It's a beautiful gown that you didn't have the fortune of witnessing me in, but luckily Stefan was there to provide a dance or a few."

Klaus pulls away from the embrace with a serious expression and Caroline mentally smacks her forehead again at the lack of a filter and an apology is at the tip of her tongue when he holds out his elbow for her, waiting. She hesitantly loops her arm through it and watches his face as they make their way back inside.

"Speaking of the younger Salvatore, remind me that I need to have a few choice words with him in the morning."

Caroline giggles at his small pout and kisses his shoulder.

. . .

"Are you cooking bacon? You are an angel sent from above. If you weren't like another older sister to me, I'd kiss you on the lips."

"You're so silly, Jer. Now go wake up dumb and dumber before they nag at me for not saving them any."

"Are you cooking bacon, Care? Why are you doing such a cruel thing?"

"Um, bacon is a magical wonder of the world. Especially after last night. Maybe _you _just partied a little too hard, birthday girl AKA Miss Go-Go Dancer."

"Ugh! Can you _not_? I'm barely conscious enough to carry a conversation."

"What's wrong, witchy? Did your boyfriend literally screw your brains out? Because by the violent noises you were making last night I wouldn't be surprised if he did any permanent damage on the organ in your skull. Not that it was big to begin with."

"Damon, seriously?"

"Ew, I'm eating here!"

"That is not an image I'd like to picture of my brother like ever."

"Where's the damn whiskey?"

"Ohh, are you making a hot toddy? I want one!"

"Me, too."

"Make that three."

"Drinking so early in the day, little brother? Tisk tisk."

"That's rich coming from you, Damon."

"No one asked you, blondie."

"I didn't say anything!"

"Not you, the other blonde. The British one."

"Guys. As my last request for my birthday, I ask of you all: please shut the hell up."

A beat of silence excluding the clinking of utensils.

"Are you all right there, Bon? You're looking a little green."

"Elena, I'm fine. Really. Just dizzy."

"No, really, Bon Bon. You look sick. Klaus hand me that trash bin over there- no the little one."

"Carol-"

"Well, how's my birthday girl doing this morning!"

"Kol I wouldn't sit right there if I were you."

"Why? What's wrong with this seat?"

"It's in the witch's projectile zone."

"What in Zeus' name are you baboons rambling on about?"

"Don't say we didn't warn you, brother."

A few collective gasps, two disgusted groans, and a silent snicker of amusement.

"I was quite fond of these shoes, Bonnie, dear."

"We told you so."

"Shut _up_, Bekah."

"We did warn you, man."

"Yeah dude."

"You guys are so immature! Come on, Bon. Let's go get you cleaned up and in a fresh set of pajamas."

"Could you get me a fresh set of shoes, as well- I was just kidding, dear. Here, I'll take her Gilbert. Really. I've got her. This way, love, I'll get you cleaned up."

"… Happy Twenty-First Birthday, Bonnie!"

"Seriously, Caroline?"

"What? I'm just trying to lighten the mood after that catastrophe. And dibs on _not _cleaning that up."

"Dibs!"

"Dibs."

"Dibs."

"What! How am I stuck with cleaning it up?"

"You snooze, you lose, Lockwood."

"Real mature."

"Didn't you know that you're staying at La Casa de Immature Supernaturals?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Oh, hello. Did you survive that massive monstrosity? Congratulations.

Did you like? Yes? Awesome. No? Well, then, next time, my friend.

Let me know your thoughts via a review! Seriously, because I like chatting it up since I'm a college student whom commutes and is practically a hermit nowadays from any sort of college life. Damn you exams and tuition.

I feel like I have more to say, but I'm tired of looking at this piece of work that I'm sure I've read at least twenty-five times now. I'm so happy that I'm finally done with it. So, drop a review because your thoughts are literally my fuel to keep going.

_You _are my inspiration.


	8. strawberry jam

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.

A/N: Oh hey, hey! This plot/prompt isn't very original, I knooow, but I've read so many that I thought I should finally put my own spin on it using our favorite vampires.

It's short, but hopefully it'll hold ya'll over for the holidays and until I finish up my other half-written stories. I literally have four different plots I've started on and just stopped. I get distracted easily.

Like, right now! Because I'm in my physics lecture when I really should be paying attention. Ok, bye!

Happy Thanksgiving, if you celebrate it, excuse my mistakes, and _enjoy!_

* * *

><p>in your head they are fighting<p>

. . .

_when the violence causes silence,_

_we must be mistaken_

. . .

Klaus decided that he no longer liked peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

_"Ugh, what I would literally do for one right now,"_ informed Caroline through the phone.

He adjusted his office phone between his shoulder and ear as he lifted his legs to rest atop the desk. His half-eaten sandwich neatly placed back on the papertowel. "Yeah, well, you can have mine, sweetheart. After that detailed description of yours of that poor fellow's blasted leg; I don't think I have much of an appetite anymore."

_"Aww, did I make you squirmish?" _Caroline teased. He could imagine the twinkle in her bright, blue eyes. _"Is it strawberry jam, too?"_

"It is."

_"Score."_

"Where you get your fascination for blood and gore is beyond me. Your mother becomes ill at the sight of raw steak."

_"I guess I inherited the badass genes." _He pictured her nonchalant shrug. _"Plus, if I was a wuss when it came to blood and sickness, do you think I'd volantarily be across the world in a village surrounded by it?"_

Klaus didn't reply, and he knew the woman was silently kicking herself for bringing up that particular topic again. She usually tried to steer clear of anything that pertained to the fact that a whole fucking sea was separating them, but it was kind of difficult to avoid when the only contact he had with her was her voice through the phone, the rare webcam, or her faint scent on her letters.

She still wore pomegranite lip balm, he noticed. It was her favorite. Klaus remembered when he used to buy packs and stuff them into her purse when she was running low. He remembered when he hurt her feelings for teasing her about kissing the letters she sent because it was so _damn cliche _and how she huffed about not caring because she thought it was a _sweet gesture_. After apologizing and some dimpled charm over the webcam, he never recieved a letter without her signature kiss on the bottom corner.

He decided to bite the bullet and tell her how he felt. "I wish you'd let me visit."

_"Klaus," _her weary sigh met his ears. _"We've been through this."_

"How would you know I'd be a distraction if you won't even give me the chance to prove you otherwise? I wouldn't be nipping at your heels, I just-"

_"__'__J__u__st__'__ what? Watch me from across the room? Your very presence sends my brain into haywire! Imagine how useless I'd be then; a nurse who can't even keep her emotions in check because her boyfriend is staring at her."_ Caroline took a breath. _"I know I'm not technically a doctor like Stefan, but he trust__s__ in my abilities enough to ask me to join his team. I couldn't let him down."_

"'Couldn't?'"

_"Can't," _Caroline corrected herself swiftly. He thought that was odd. _"And you- you believe in me, too. Always picking up whenever I call, no matter what ungodly hour it is. Not to mention all of your financial support and sponsorship for this organization. Everyone in this village, the ill and the healthy, all appreciate everything you're doing to help, Klaus. It means so much. Stefan __badgers__ me to tell you his thanks all the time."_

Klaus shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "All right, I know. I'm sorry, love. It's just with all the news about the abductions and village raids going on... I worry."

Caroline quietly hummed in understanding. _"You know I miss you every moment of every day, right?" _she admitted softly.

"Yes, my love."

_"Good." _Then there was the sound of rustling and hushed whispers. Klaus patiently waited, stared out his floor to ceiling office windows at the city below, and imagined the woman holding the international mobile phone he had gotten her against her chest as she spoke to probably one of her coworkers.

He heard Caroline give a muffled, _"Thank you,"_ then to him, _"Hey, did you ever get my letter?"_

"No, not yet."

_"Hm, that's okay. I have a feeling it'll come today, though, so keep an eye out."_

"Alright."

_"Hey, none of that. I can feel your pout all the way from here-"_

A sudden knock startled Klaus and averted his attention toward the large wooden doors that separated his office from the lobby and his receptionist. "Give me a second, Caroline."

_"If you're busy we can talk to-"_

"No. Stay on the line. Just give me a second," Klaus repeated into the receiver and pulled his legs off the desk. He straightened in his plush leather chair and called out, "Come in, Jeana!"

Klaus smiled gently as his meek receptionist entered his office and shut the door behind her. Even after working with him for three years, her shy habits were still intact. Though she'd definintely gained confidence with time, especially since his girlfriend would always drag the poor girl out for shopping and pestered her about boys, trying to set her up with one of her fellow nurse pals.

"Morning, Mr. Mikaelson. This was dropped off." Jeana moved to stand before his desk and handed him a robin egg blue colored enveloped. There was no address; only his name was scrawled across the front.

"Richard dropped this off?"

Jeana shot back a small smile of her own at the confusion marring his expression. She didn't answer his question.

"I'll be getting a coffee, now. Would you like anything?" Klaus shook his head, his eyes remained on the envelope that slightly smelled of cinnamon. "Then I'll be leaving, Mr. Mikaelson."

Klaus waited until his door was shut, then spoke into the receiver. "What is this, Caroline?"

_"What ever do you mean?" _He knew it then. He knew that she was definitely up to something and must have gotten Jeana in on the scheme, as well. But, what could she possibly be scheming from thousands of miles away?

Cradling the phone between his shoulder and ear once again, Klaus stuck his finger under the flap and with a flick of his wrist he tore the envelope open and pulled out a simple white card.

In the shell of his ear, he heard, _"You know, I was thinking maybe I'll visit you."_

The card read:

_"I've missed you. But I'm home now._

_Actually, I'm in your office."_

Klaus didn't know how long he sat there, slacked jaw and completely dumbfounded. He read the three sentences over and over again that he'd lost count. Then his signature dimpled grin crawled its way across his features, his blue hues so bright.

"You sneaky vixen," he murmured into the phone before he shot up from his chair so quickly that it rolled and crashed into the wall behind him, the office phone carelessly dropped and hung over the side of his desk. Klaus all but sprinted towad the doors and threw them both open; and there, there was his light.

A little ruffled looking in her mud covered combat boots and forest green coat, strands of gold hanging loose from her braid, but it was his light no less. Even then, with her tired smile and eyes ringed with dark circles, she lit up his empty lobby.

Klaus took one step, his designer shoes making a clack against the marble floor, then stopped. He was afraid that this was just another one of his illusions and his sleep deprived mind was playing tricks again. Playing with his emotions. Stunned eyes watched as Caroline stuffed the phone she was using just moments ago into her back pocket.

He hadn't noticed that he was holding his breath, until her name mingled with his quiet exhale.

"Caroline."

The once aching organ in Klaus' chest thrummed at the brilliant smile she gave him then, and he couldn't help but return one of his own.

"Hey, handsome. Took you long enough. Still got that sandwich?"

* * *

><p>AN: Lyrics at the top from the song "Zombie" by The Cranberries.

Thank you for reading! Drop a review!


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